Officials Argue Over Sex in Prisons

[Up2Late]

(I found this at Reuters:Oddly Enough, I thought folk here would find it interesting and thought it was too important for the Lounge. Full Disclosure: I'm not Gay, but have always had gay friends)

Officials Argue Over Sex in Prisons

Thu Mar 24, 2005 09:14 AM ET

By Gershwin Wanneburg

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's jails watchdog and prison officials have locked horns in a public row over proposals to allow consensual sex behind bars.

The Department of Correctional Services says criminals have no right to demand sex, but the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons (JIP) said in a report this week that sex between inmates was a basic right and could help root out widespread rape and sexual abuse in the country's prisons.

The report followed a complaint by two male prisoners who were charged with misconduct by authorities after they were caught having sex. They appealed to the JIP -- which oversees the Department of Correctional Services -- who ruled in their favor. JIP attorney Umesh Raga said there were many advantages to the body's proposal.

"It might allow them (prisoners), like in the rest of society where gays and lesbians can now only openly talk about it ... to come out into the open. Then one can differentiate between those cases where there is consensual and coercive sex," Raga told Reuters. He said it might also eliminate the stigma around homosexual sex -- a strict taboo in much of South Africa, like in many parts of the continent, despite having one of the world's most gay-friendly constitutions.

(more at link)

<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=7996335&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews>