The headline story on the May 29 edition of the Jamaica Observer ‘Love in Lockup’ caught my eye. It highlighted the proposed introduction of conjugal visits for prison inmates in the proposed National Correctional Services Policy recently tabled in Parliament. I found this proposal deeply troubling and sought to investigate the rationale behind it and potential effects.

The proposal

The draft policy for Cabinet dated January 2024 available on the Ministry of National Security website listed several goals, including Goal #3: Strengthened rehabiliation services offered to offender clients.

Under Goal #3, a policy objective was to “strengthen family ties”. It is under this objective that the proposal for private conjugal visits is made. It stated: “GOJ will explore an appropriate mechanism for the introduction of conjugal visits, where there would be designated periods in which an offender client is allowed to be in private with their legal spouse/wife/husband. The visit allows contact, including sexual relations, between an offender client and a visitor. The key aims of conjugal visits include preserving an offender client’s family ties, promoting the offender client’s reintegration into society on release, curbing recidivism, and lessening violence within the correctional centre.”

The purpose of prison

The policy references inmate’s legal spouse/husband/wife. While it may be the intention of the Government to limit the scope for the conjugal visits to those in an established and legally recognised union, I am not in support of conjugal visits for any prisoner whether legally married, in a common law relationship, or visiting/casual relationships.

The functions of prison are punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, and isolation of dangerous individuals from society. The order of priority of these functions may vary depending on who the question is posed to. If as stated the overarching goal is strengthening rehabilitation services, I do not think it is clearly established how the State providing facilities and opportunities for inmates to have sex with their spouse helps to achieve this. In fact, I believe the key aims listed can be achieved without allowing conjugal visits.

More fatherless children

The unfortunate truth is this: Sex comes with responsibility. Children, who are the potential by-product of sex, need both parents present for an ideal family structure and support. Just because conjugal visits are allowed for inmates in another country does not mean that it is appropriate for Jamaica. Context and culture matter.

We must examine Jamaica’s social realities when formulating national policy. One such reality is that many of our criminals, particularly violent criminals, come from low-income, single parent (primarily single mother) households. Fatherlessness or absentee fathers is an epidemic in Jamaica and not one that the State should contribute to.

Encouraging sexual activity with male inmates increases the risk of pregnancy of female spouses on the outside. Even if contraception is provided there is no guarantee the inmates will use it, and if there is a resultant unwanted pregnancy, abortion is illegal. They must then raise a child without a father present in the home for the duration of his incarceration.

I do not question the good intentions of the technocrats behind the proposal; however, it is important that in seeking to solve one problem we do not make another problem worse. Having only very recently started to make significant progress in reducing murder and violent crime we should not be prescribing any policy which will foster more fatherless children, creating more food for the crime monster.

MORE FAMILY VISITS

I do, however, recognise that there are many fathers in Jamaica who are absent from their children’s lives due to incarceration. This leads to a strain on family relationships and this is recognised by the policymakers. Another action under the policy objective of strengthening family ties, states: “The GOJ will facilitate, as far as possible, the important parent and child relationship, in establishing improved visitation facilities and procedures. The Government recognises that, as far as possible, every effort should be made not to cause a child to suffer unduly because of the incarceration of either of their parents.” I applaud and welcome this move.

Supervised family visits are essential to maintaining familial relationships and allowing inmates to connect with their children, parents and spouse. Currently convicted inmates are allowed one visit per month, but family days are when the entire family are allowed to visit. Generally, minor children are not allowed into correctional institutions, except on that day. Correctional centers have at least three family days annually, but this is simply not enough.

PREGNANCY IN PRISON

Female inmates who engage in sexual activity during conjugal visits will be at risk of pregnancy during incarceration. There are several issues which arise from this. Will the State assume responsibility for the pre-natal care needs of the child? Is the current environment within Jamaican correctional facilities conducive to pregnancies? If the father abdicates responsibility or cannot be located at birth will the child become a ward of the State?

There is also the issue of safe sex. Will condoms or contraception be provided? Sex with inmates heightens the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases being contracted either by inmates or spouses. These concerns must be adequately addressed before acting on this policy suggestion.

ORGANISED CRIME AND SMUGGLING

Another consideration should be the established issue of criminals orchestrating crimes and running gangs from behind bars. There was a prevailing issue of inmates gaining access to contraband such as cellphones which they would use to direct crimes on the outside. This led to the passage of the Corrections (Amendment) Act a few years ago to create stiffer penalties for the inmates found with cellphones or other contraband.

Conjugal visits would allow inmates privacy to interface with their spouses, who in the case of inmates who are gang members may relay instructions to gang members on the outside. It could also provide opportunity for smuggling of contraband into prisons. There must be adequate safeguards in place to prevent this.

PUNISHMENT AND DETERRENT FACTOR

There have been multiple viral videos in the past of Jamaican prisoners seemingly “living it up”. Drinking, smoking and playing games. This is not the image of prison that one would want to paint to society. Prison is not a vacation and should never be somewhere that people would want to be. The deterrent and punishment functions of prison would be lost if life in prison was even remotely similar to life on the outside.

Sex is not a human right. It is a privilege and one that a person gives up when they choose to commit a crime punishable by imprisonment. Jah Cure famously sang, “Prison a no bed a roses.” I think we ought to be careful not to overly soften or romanticise the conditions during incarceration or we will be scattering rose petals at our own peril.