Condoms in Australian prisons don't lead to 'rape and mayhem'

Providing condoms and dental dams to prisoners does not cause “rape and mayhem”, investigators in Australia have found.

In a study published in the online edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections, researchers from New South Wales established that there was in fact a fall in the reported incidence of both consensual and non-consensual sex between male prisoners after condoms were made available to inmates, and that condom and dental dam misuse was generally benign.

Condoms are highly effective at preventing the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, but few prison services make them available to inmates. Following legal advice the New South Wales prison service started providing condoms to male prisoners and dental dams to female inmates in 1996. Concerns were that this would lead to an increase in both consensual and non-consensual sex between inmates. There were also worries that condoms would be used to smuggle or store contraband such as drugs, or that they would be used as weapons against prison staff.

To establish the consequence of condoms and dental dam provision, investigators from Sydney analysed data obtained from surveys of prisoners in 1996, before condoms and dental dams were made available, and again in 2001, by which time there had been five years of experience of condom/dental dam access. Information from official prison records regarding the misuse of condoms/dental dams, and the use of condoms in assaults was also obtained.

There was opposition to the provision of condoms/dental dams from both prison staff and inmates. In 1996, approximately a third of male prisoners opposed condom provision and 5% of female prisoners were against the availability of dental dams. Furthermore, 10% of male inmates feared condoms would increase the number of sexual assaults, with 1% of female prisoners sharing similar concerns about the provision of dental dams. A small proportion (1%) of male prisoners feared that access to condoms would give the impression that prisoners were homosexual.

Nevertheless, over a quarter of male prisoners and 54% of female inmates supported the provision of condoms/dental dams.

Fear about the provision of condoms/dental dams leading to more consensual and non-consensual sex were not realised. Indeed, there was a statistically significant fall in the percentage of men reporting both consensual (p

The 2001 survey of prisoners revealed that both condom kits and dental dams were being misused, but that this abuse was generally benign. Condoms were sometimes used as waterbombs, and the bags which condoms and dental dams were supplied in were used to store tobacco. Lubricant was used as hair gel, or, when banana and strawberry flavours were available, as a mild flavouring. The investigators also found that 13% of women reported using dental dams as placemats or doilies.

Although 29% of men said that they were aware of condoms or condom bags being used to store drugs, data from the New South Wales prison service showed that there was no increase in the proportion of inmates using illicit drugs after condoms were made available.

There were only three instances where condoms were used as weapons. One incident involved a shampoo-filled condom being thrown at a prison officer, and in the other two instances, condoms which contained a substance resembling semen were thrown at prison officers.

The investigators conclude that concerns about the provision of condoms and dentals dams in prisons generally “were not realised. In fact, we found evidence of a decrease in both male-male consensual sex and sexual assaults between 1996 and 2001.”

They do, however, acknowledge that concerns about the misuse of condoms/dental dams were justified, but there was no evidence that condom/dental dam availability increased drug taking. They write, “prisoners would undoubtedly find any means of storing contraband even if condoms were unavailable.”