Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) said that ongoing reforms in prisons will not include conjugal rights.
There have been calls by some non-governmental organisations and legislators to allow prisoners to have sex.
However, speaking on Thursday at the ZPCS stand at the ZITF, the organisation’s spokesperson, Chief Correctional Officer, Meya Khanyezi said:
That’s not an issue which we can spend time discussing. Incarceration means certain rights and freedoms are taken away so that you reform. Just take a scenario where one has been convicted on rape and we give that person conjugal rights, would that make sense?
Let’s focus on imparting life-improving skills to our inmates so that when they come out they will be able to fend for their families. Right now, we want more open prisons for women, no one is lobbying for that, but sex for inmates.
Zimbabwe has 46 prisons that hold 19 396 prisoners (both serving and in remand), of which 458 are female prisoners and the remainder male inmates.
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More: Newsday