SF Jail Hands Out Condoms

by Matt Kelley · 2010-09-09 10:00:00 UTC
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Sex in prison just got a little safer.

A San Francisco county jail has added 16 condom machines for its 750 prisoners, in an effort to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted disease behind bars. It's a wise move, as prisoners will have sex whether they have condoms or not, but it's already drawing controversy from opponents, who say the condom dispensers are a way to coddle prisoners.

One of America's most outspoken opponents of prisoners' rights, Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, tweeted today when he heard the news:  "This is ridiculous, what's next, pink underwear?" Apparently Joe thinks sex behind bars and sexually transmitted disease is a joke, since he's famous for handing out pink underwear to prisoners.

Condoms aren't new in San Francisco County jails, they're just becoming easier to get. For two decades, prisoners in the county's lockups have been able to get condoms in one-on-one counseling sessions. A pilot project in 2007 led the way for these dispensers by showing that they increased condom use exponentially while the rate of sexual activity remained constant. Although condoms had always been available on request, the percentage of prisoners who knew about the program shot from 12% to 70% upon installation of the dispensers.

A California state prison is conducting a similar pilot project right now. But in all, less than 1% of American prisoners have access to condoms -- and it shouldn't be this way. The rate of HIV and AIDS in the prison population is four times that of the general American populace. Studies have estimated that one in three American prisoners has Hepatitis C.

"It may be controversial," Sheriff Michael Hennessey told the San Francisco Chronicle, "but I think the larger health education message is important."

Image Credit: Paul Keller

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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