Prisoners a step nearer to having condoms

THE HOME OFFICE has taken the first step towards giving prisoners condoms by dropping its assertion that homosexual acts in jails are always illegal.

A review of every aspect of the treatment of Aids in the prison system has included the highly contentious questions of whether condoms and clean needles should be available.

It has already rejected the old Home Office argument that condoms could not be given out because prisons were 'public places', where sex is illegal under the 1967 Sexual Offences Act.

Until now ministers have quoted the Act in response to criticism that they were not doing enough to prevent Aids spreading among high-risk inmates such as male prostitutes and drug users. 'It would be highly irresponsible to say that in order to prevent the spread of Aids you must encourage people to commit crimes,' Angela Rumbold said in 1991 when she was prisons minister.

But the Home Office Aids Advisory Committee which will report to senior officials and ministers in the summer has found the law far from clear. No one knows, members say, whether two prisoners in a cell - as distinct from a shower, for example - could be said to be having sex in a public place because the issue has never been tested in court.

The review has moved on to the practical question of how condoms could be distributed in prisons. It is examining what happened in France three years ago when President Mitterrand ordered that inmates be given condoms. It is also asking whether, if condom machines were installed, prisoners would ignore them for fear of identifying themselves as homosexuals.

Prison reform organisations have repeatedly claimed that the alleged difficulties caused by the Sexual Offences Act are merely a cover for ministers who do not want to be seen condoning homosexual acts in jails whether they are legal or illegal.

Reformers pointed out last week that on 1 April the Prison Service will become a quasi-autonomous agency. Politicians would then be able to distance themselves if prison officials concluded that condoms should be allowed inside jails.

Prison medical officers already have stores of condoms. Since 1991, they have been given to prisoners when they are released or given home leave because some inmates may celebrate their freedom with a prostitute.

At present, only 35 inmates in the system are known to be HIV positive. But because tests are voluntary and many prisoners may not know if they are carriers, the Home Office accepts that this could be a very considerable underestimate.

In an attempt to find the true figure a survey of inmates arriving in jail will begin in the summer.