Harm Reduction in Prison Coalition (AFC)

Harm Reduction in Prison Coalition (AFC)

200 W. Jackson Blvd. #2200 Chicago, IL 60606

Phone: (312)-922-2322 #505 and #530 e-mail:

Allow Access to Condoms in Cook County Jail

Access to male and female condoms in Cook County Jail is a pragmatic public health response to a serious problem—sky-high HIV infection rates behind bars. In 2011, Cook County Jail had 150 known HIV positive inmates on average each day with approximately 50 - 100 who have chosen not to disclose their status or may not know that they have been infected. It is estimated that 4 - 10 HIV positive people enter Cook County Jail every day. HIV rates are at least three times higher among people in jail than in the general population.

Condoms are available in jails in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Philadelphia, as well as Vermont and Mississippi. Condoms are distributed in medical clinics, by health educators, and in common areas such as libraries and recreation areas. Almost all European prison systems provide condoms to inmates.

People in jail have sex while in prison and jail, but have no means to protect themselves from HIV and STDs. In various studies, 44-65% of people in prison or jail reported sex behind bars. A U.S. Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention study reported that three-quarters of men in prison who became HIV-positive while behind bars reported male-male sex. Sex behind bars, high numbers of people with HIV, and people in jail’s inability to access condoms creates the potential for infection rates to spiral upward.

Good prison health is good public health. Every year, over 65,000 people who were in Cook County Jail return to the community, after an average stay of 50 days. When people in jail can protect themselves from HIV—and receive voluntary testing and treatment if they are HIV-positive—they are less likely to put their partners in the community at risk of HIV infection when they return home.

Condoms do not cause security problems in jails that allow them. Opponents fear inmates will throw condoms filled with bodily fluids at guards; people in jail can currently use a plastic bag or any container for this purpose. No U.S. prison or jail that permits condoms has reversed the policy and banned them.

It is time to accept that people in jail are having sex behind bars. Distributing male and female condoms will not condone sex between prisoners, nor will it encourage prisoners to have sex, which is going on anyway. It will allow people in jail to protect themselves and their loved ones in the community from a deadly, costly, debilitating disease that kills over 18,000 people each year in the United States.

Based on information collected from interviews with officials from prison, jails and community based organizations. For more information, contact Nehemiah Frank, Office (312)-922-2322, Mobile (312) 608-1612 or .