How To Crack Down On Gay Prison Sex? Closed-Circuit Cameras

Kenya’s Prisons Department is considering installing security cameras as a way to curb sex between inmates — something that, at least in theory, remains illegal. Why not install security cameras to keep tabs on inmates for general security?

“We don’t know what happens in the prison dormitories when the inmates retire to bed. We just receive claims that some inmates engage in homosexuality,” says the prisons commissioner. “In order to avoid speculation on the matter, we shall install closed-circuit television cameras in all dormitories so that we can catch the culprits.”

With cameras rolling, prison officials will be better able to crack down on inmates sexing each other, supposedly. But the real problem in prisons isn’t so much a violation of conjugal law, but the spread of HIV. Because sex is prohibited in prisons, condoms are banned, and the commissioner has no plans to start distributing them. Which means rather than acknowledging the inevitable (you think a couple cameras are going to stop inmates from getting their rocks off?), Kenya’s prisons will remain a place where transmission thrives.