Conjugal visits a right step in jail reforms

A conjugal visit is one where offenders are allowed to spend time with their spouses. In India, the restitution of such rights is intertwined with the personal laws of an individual and, more often than not, guided by the societal forces of tradition, custom, and religion.

At present, India’s conjugal visit project remains in the experimental stage, having been introduced in only three jails within the state of Punjab: the Goindwal Sahib Central Jail in Tarn Taran, the Women’s Jail in Bathinda, and the New District Jail at Nabha.

However, it has stirred a lot of controversy and debate, with public opinion sharply divided over the matter.

Restricting prisoners from exercising their conjugal rights implies denying their spouse’s right to life as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This is because the right to life guarantees one the right to procreate as well as the right to have children, even if incarcerated. Conjugal rights guarantee personal liberties and equal opportunities for all. The State cannot take away these rights from an offender’s spouse since they have not committed any crime, and doing so would entail an infringement of their constitutional rights.

This facility can, however, be availed of by those inmates who are known to have exhibited good behaviour throughout their incarceration. Those known to have been involved in sexual-related offences such as rapes and child abuse, as well as those found guilty of other serious charges, are not eligible for this exemption.

Despite contrasting viewpoints on the introduction of visitation rights for India’s jail inmates, there are multiple benefits that can be accrued by means of this reform measure.

Conjugal visits carry psychological health benefits as they provide a platform to build and sustain meaningful relationships between inmates and their families. They contribute to the preservation of marital ties by allowing inmates and their spouses to maintain their roles as husband and wife.

Conjugal visits also serve as an effective instrument of rehabilitation as they focus on the long-term recovery of inmates. Such visitations also help contain the likelihood of recidivism, since such inmates are less likely to violate rules and regulations in the future. Those who maintain close ties with their spouses find it easier to be rehabilitated back into society, and fit in with their families upon release.

According to a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice, American states that did not allow conjugal visits experienced at least four times the number of incidents of sexual violence as those that did.In Indian jails, incidents of sexual violence take place on a regular basis, and more often than not, most cases go unreported. Most Indian jail authorities, too, remain in denial about such transgressions being carried out under their watch.

Conjugal visits could serve as positive reinforcement in this regard, since most inmates would avoid getting involved in any kind of violence if they were to avail themselves of this facility. Consequently, there would be a reduction in acts involving non-consensual homosexual intercourse.

The Indian government introduced initiatives for HIV prevention and treatment in closed settings like jails and juvenile homes. However, cases of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted illnesses among inmates continue to rise.

HIV has now emerged as a major health challenge for jail authorities in India, and to this end, it is hoped that conjugal visits can keep India’s rising HIV cases at bay by reducing sexual aggression among its inmates.

Lastly, a discussion on conjugal visits remains incomplete without taking into consideration the acts of sexual deviation that take place in an Indian jail. Rather, homosexual rapes in Indian jails can now be considered an open secret.

A study in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in 2010 quotes figures from Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, where 72% of its inmates revealed that homosexual intercourse among male inmates was a common occurrence.

It is a known fact that countries around the world like the United States, Israel, and Brazil permit same-sex conjugal visits.

Following India’s decriminalisation of consensual homosexual intercourse in 2018, the introduction of same-sex conjugal visits would not contravene any laws of the land. Rather, it could serve as an antidote to homosexual rapes that take place within Indian jails, creating a safer environment for all its inmates in the process.

(The writer is an independent researcher and writes on gender, development cooperation, SDGs and forced migration.)