Incidences of sexual practices in prisons outside South Africa

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The Topic/Research Problem

The topic of the thesis captures my personal interest on different levels. Firstly, as mentioned above in the introduction, it captures my interest on the ethics level. Ethics, among other things, deals with morality, justice, fairness and equality. The biased and unequal treatment given to heterosexuals and homosexuals in prison is ethically unacceptable. Heterosexuals in prison are denied sexual contact with their spouses or partners as part of the punishment, while homosexuals on the other hand are not denied this contact and they are having a field day in prison. Secondly, and linked to the first reason, is the matter of non-adherence (by prison officials) to the clause on equality and non-discrimination in Chapter two (2) of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution. This discrimination needs to be addressed by the South African Correctional Services. It will be part of my proposal to the department to consider means and ways of implementing indiscriminate punishment to all prisoners.

The judgemental

There are still those who hear or have the knowledge that these acts do take place, but somehow wish that a particular prisoner or prisoners should go through a horrible sexual experience in prison. Their reaction is one of satisfaction that the victim when ‘raped’, or gang ‘raped’, got what he deserved. These would be friends and/ or relatives of someone who may have been a victim of the one now imprisoned and ‘raped’. Even if there was a way to stop these horrible acts, people with this attitude would not lift a finger as they feel that they have been vindicated, or that justice is now being carried out.

Current correctional services

I believe it is at this stage where the current Department of Correctional Services need to be applauded for the improvements in our prisons. Previously, the emphasis in our prisons was on punishment alone. We are now seeing a slight move and change from incarceration solely for punishment to incarceration with a view to rehabilitate. This I believe is a step in the right direction ethically speaking. It is applaudable in that the intention is not only to punish, but also to acknowledge that there is a degree of goodness in man which at the time of whatever crime that may have been committed, either lay dormant or was momentarily overpowered by a stronger emotion.
Giving a person an opportunity to look back and see where he/she went wrong and to resolve to never do the same mistake again is ethically acceptable. This should not be mistaken for a carte blanche acceptance of the ‘innate goodness of man’ in a liberal way. My approach is in line with evangelical practice of giving man a ‘second’ chance to repent of one’s sins. This may be expressed in the good old Anglican confessional phraseology “forgive us for the wrong we have done and the good we have left undone”. It is in line with Christ giving men and women a ‘second’ chance in His sayings, His ‘Go and sin no more’ approach.

Over-crowded prisons

As cited by Gunn above, one of the problems, if not the chief problem, that causes prisoners to behave ‘homosexually’ is that of over-crowding. Other so-called first world or developed countries also fall short of the required standards in this regard. In South Africa the problem of overcrowded prisons/correctional services is an undeniable reality. This is not a result of the new Democratic Dispensation as some may want to believe. This problem was in existence during the apartheid government, was inherited by the current democratically elected government and continues to be so, despite the improvements mentioned above. As Van Zyl Smit researched Helderstroom, he reported that: “The occupancy rate on 09 August could therefore not be regarded as abnormal.

Background to prison homosexual practices

Francis Schaeffer in the foreword of his book Escape from Reason discusses the importance of understanding the culture of the day so as to communicate the unchanging truths of Christianity. He points to the fact that in order to do this effectively, one needs to not only know and understand the present but also know the past. This is where I agree with him in that for us to understand the present culture of homosexual activity in our prisons, we need to know the history (past) thereof. For his part, Schaeffer starts with Aquinas and moves on. For my part I start with what Achmat says regarding the history of prison homosexual sex in South African prisons and how the 28s or Ninevites started operating in prisons.

Sexual abuse in prison

In dealing with this aspect of prison life, the Commission found that the situation was worse than they expected. In the prisons they investigated many came forward to testify to the fact that they were abused and sodomised (raped) by inmates and that nothing was done by the members when they reported these incidents. As reported elsewhere, the Commission heard of a young prisoner who went to report to an official that he was sodomised by two inmates. Instead of getting help from the member, the very official who was supposed to help him sodomised him. Although this case is an exception in that an inmate was raped by other inmates, as well as a correctional service official, sexual abuse is also a reality in other prisons. The Jali Commission verifies this by saying the following: “In fact, the number of cases the Commission heard all point to the fact that sexual abuse in prisons is rife” (Jali 2006:30).
It is not only rife but it also involves violence. The findings of the Commission as mentioned above show that they were appalled. This is what they said concerning this aspect: “This chapter highlights the horrific scourge of sexual violence that plagues our prisons where appalling abuses and acts of sexual perversion are perpetrated on helpless and unprotected prisoners” (Jali 2006:29). It is also interesting to note that the report mentions ‘acts of sexual perversion’. Without diverting from the main focus of discussion, it is morally correct to refer to acts of forced sodomy on an unsuspecting prisoner by a number of other inmates as ‘perversion’. It should be noted that this was carefully worded and by professionals who were and are not unaware of the sexual orientation clause in our Constitution /Bill of Rights whereby consenting adults are free to engage in sexual acts of their choice.

Table of Contents :

• Summary
• Key terms
• Curriculum vitae of Frank Shayi
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• The topic/Research problem
• Methodology
• Motivation
• Contribution to society:
• Overview of contents of the thesis
• Chapter SEXUAL PRACTICES IN AND OUTSIDE SOUTH AFRICAN PRISONS
  • 1.1 Introduction
    • 1.1.1 The naïve
    • 1.1.2 The helpless
    • 1.1.3 The judgemental
    • 1.1.4 Incidences of sexual practices in prisons outside South Africa
    • 1.1.5 Incidences of sexual practices in prisons in South Africa
      • 1.1.5.1 Current Correctional Services
      • 1.1.5.2 De-racializing Correctional Services
      • 1.1.5.3 Over-crowded prisons
    • 6 Background to prison homosexual practices
      • 1.1.6.1 Prison gangs
      • 1.1.6.2 Nongoloza and the 28’s
    • 1.1.7 Patterns of sexual activities in prison
      • 1.1.7.1 Mutual consensual homosexual sex
      • 1.1.7.2 Coerced consensual homosexual sex
      • 1.1.7.3 Prison homosexual sex trade
      • 1.1.7.4 Masturbation
      • 1.1.7.5 Male ‘rape’ in prison
    • 1.1.8 Handling ‘rape’ cases in prison by officials
  • 1. 2 Factors contributing to the sexual practices in prison
    • 1.2.1 Overcrowding
    • 1.2.2 Physiological needs
    • 1.2.3 Boredom
    • 1.2.4 Lack of support
    • 1.2.5 Corruption and prison officials
    • 1.2.6 Compassionate officials?
    • 1.2 7 Officials and rape in prison
    • 1.2.7 Officials taking advantage of prisoners
    • 1.2 8 Evaluation of corrupt officials

• Chapter DO THE HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICES IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRISONS CONTRAVENE THE BILL OF RIGHTS?
  • 2.1 Unfair discrimination
  • 2.2 Prisoner’s rights
    • 2.2.1 Arguments for prisoner rights to be upheld
    • 2.2.2 Rights on admission
    • 2.2.3 Safe custody
    • 2.2.4 Accommodation
    • 2.2.5 The right to good nutrition
  • 2.3 Counter-arguments to rights
  • 2.4 Rights and recidivism
  • 2.5 Slight improvements in
  • 2.6 Points from the Draft White Paper on Corrections in SA December
    • 2.6.1 Corrupt correctional officials revisited
    • 2.6.2 Escapes from prisons
    • 2.6.3 Societal involvement
  • 2.7 Sending conflicting signals
    • 2.7.1 Officials and prison sexual acts
    • 2.7.2 Does the department condone sex in prison?
    • 2.7.3 First time offenders in same cell with repeat offenders
    • 2.7.4 Perceptions and retraining
    • 2.7.5 Professionalism and experience of officials
    • 2.7.6 Pitfalls of housing callow inmates with recidivists
• Chapter THE JALI COMMISSION REPORT
  • 3.1 Background
  • 3.2 Relevance of the commission and its findings
  • 3.3 Jali report findings
    • 3.3.1 Sexual abuse in prison
    • 3.3.2 Correctional officials and corruption
    • 3.3.3 McKenzie’s experiences
• Chapter EMPIRICAL RESEARCH RESULTS AND EVALUATION
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 NICRO
  • 4.3 Research results summary
    • 4.3.1 Correctional service members’ results
    • 4.3.2. Evaluation of members’ responses
    • 4.3.3 Inmates and ex-inmates research results
    • 4.3.4 Evaluation of inmates and ex-inmates results
• Chapter SEXUALITY AND HOMOSEXUALITY FROM AN EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVE
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Human sexuality
    • 5.2.1 Evaluation/Critique
  • 5.3 Homosexuality
    • 5.3.1. Transient homosexuals/homosexuality
    • 5.3.2 Transgenerational homosexuals/homosexuality
    • 5.3.3. Transgenderal homosexuality
    • 5.3.4. Egalitarian homosexuality
  • 5.4 Causes of homosexuality
  • 5.5 Key Biblical passages regarding homosexuality
    • 5.5.1 Jonathan and David revisited
  • 5.6 Different positions regarding homosexuality
  • 5.7 South African legal position on homosexuality
    • 5.7.1 Implications of the civil unions bill
  • 5.8 Challenges facing the Church
  • 5.9 Challenges facing homosexuals
    • 5.9.1 Sexually transmitted diseases
    • 5.9.2 Early death
• Chapter PUNISHMENT AND IMPRISONMENT FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Punishment and justice
  • 6.3 Is punishment Biblical?
  • 6.4 Should punishment not be left to God?
  • 6.5 Does prison (as punishment) rehabilitate?
    • 6.5.1 Former President Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela
    • 6.5.2 Jonathan Aitkens
    • 6.5.3 Gayton McKenzie
    • 6.5.4 The story of Frank Ayers
    • 6.5.5 Eugene Terblanche
    • 6.5.6 Mount Zion Baptist Church
    • 6.5.7 The Argentinian model
• Chapter A CHRISTIAN ETHICAL RATIONALE FOR PRISON REFORM
  • 7.1 Introduction
  • 7.2 Reform proposals for the department of correctional services
    • 7.2.1 Correctional services and members
    • 7.2.2 Correctional services and inmates
    • 7.2.3 Correctional services and their policies
      • 7.2.3.1 Correctional services and the policy of no sex in prison
• 7.3 Alternatives to jail sentences
• 7.4 On forgiveness
• Chapter CONCLUSION
  • References
  • Appendix
  • Appendix
  • Appendix
  • Appendix

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SEXUAL PRACTICES IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRISONS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS