Under recent Human Rights legislation now applicable in the UK pressure is coming to bear on the Home Office. A spokesperson for the Home Office has stated that guidelines on condoms were being made clearer and more uniformly applied. “We are on the horns of a dilemma with condoms”, she said. “The Human Rights Act says it may make us liable, but we are told it is still illegal to have sex in prison. Obviously some people will find succour in same sex relations. Some governors hand condoms out like Smarties; others are much more prescriptive.”

The National AIDS and Prisons Forum believes that sexual activity will always occur in prison, and that the Prison Service should adopt a more pragmatic approach in this area. It would like to see condom and safer sex material provided as routine, and an estate-wide emphasis on education programmes to inform prisoners as to the risks involved.

In response to a Commons question in July 2005 about condom provision in prisons, the Department of Health stated that they are about to publish guidance on how condoms are dispensed in prisons. The Terence Higgins Trust is currently running a lobbying campaign of MP’s to ensure condoms are universally and anonymously available in prisons.

The National Aids Trust and Prison Reform joint study: ‘HIV and Hep C in UK Prisons: Addressing Prisoners’ Healthcare Needs’ states: “Current policy and practice fails to meet the needs of prisoners and to protect them from transmission.”