Jails in the Caribbean - where 3 percent of male prisoners are believed to be HIV-positive - should permit conjugal visits and allow the distribution of condoms, according to a regional corrections official.
Marcus Day is an adviser to the Association of Caribbean Heads of Corrections and Prison Services, which is meeting in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. He said HIV is spreading in the region's prisons via sexual assault and homosexual sex among men who are otherwise heterosexual. "Given our [sodomy] laws, our high levels of homophobia, we have kind of not looked at the scientific evidence about these kind of transmissions, and we just ignored it," he said.
UNAIDS estimates that a half-million people in the Caribbean are HIV-infected, and experts fear this could take a heavy toll on national economies.
Day said the estimate of HIV prevalence in Caribbean prisons was based on studies conducted in several countries in the region. However, prisoners' reluctance to be tested, together with the lack of protocols to monitor infectious diseases, make it difficult to gauge the full extent of the problem.
Day supports allowing condoms in prisons even though some religious leaders fear this would promote homosexual activity. He added, however, "Better than the allowing of condoms in the prison are the allowing of conjugal visits." If such private visits were allowed, Day said, "the desire to have same-sex relationships [would] be greatly reduced."
06/11/08
Condoms, Spousal Sex Urged to Prevent HIV in Caribbean Jails
Source: Agence France Presse; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention