OAKLAND: Break the Silence about Sex

Barbara Lee says she wants to break the silence about sex in prisons and address sex-related diseases.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, unveiled legislation Saturday aimed at putting condoms in the hands of federal inmates, a move she said she hopes will help “break the silence” about sex in prison and the disproportionate toll of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections upon African Americans.

Lee said the legislation was needed to reduce the spread of life-threatening illnesses and ought to be supported by a broad coalition, because 90 percent of the prison population is released, and many go home and resume relationships with spouses and partners.

“When an inmate gets infected, we’re all affected,” Lee said Saturday, during an interview after a town hall forum she hosted at Merritt College on HIV/AIDS in the African American community.

The rate of AIDS cases among prisoners is triple that of the general population, Bureau of Justice Statistics show.

Furthermore, African American inmates are 3.5 times more like than white inmates and 2.5 times more likely than Latino inmates to die from AIDS-related causes.

San Francisco is one of a handful of jurisdictions across the nation to allow condoms in jails. In most states, condoms are still deemed contraband. An effort similar to Lee’s is already under way in the California Legislature. Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, has a bill — awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s review — to permit condom distribution in state institutions.

Lee’s bill also calls for prisons to allow community organizations to come into institutions to conduct HIV and sexually transmitted disease counseling, testing and treatment, as well as distribute condoms.

Speakers at Saturday’s forum addressed the disproportionate toll HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections have on African Americans.

AIDS remains the leading cause of death for African American women ages 25-34 and the second leading cause of death for black men ages 35-44, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

In 2004, the rate of AIDS cases in the United States among African Americans was 56.4 per 100,000 population, more than triple the rate for Latinos (18.6 per 100,000) and nine times greater than the rate for whites (6 per 100,000).

People living with HIV talked about the need for African Americans to have frank, nonjudgmental conversations about HIV and the need to be tested with their friends and relatives.

Cynara Chapman-Dillon, who tested HIV positive in 1993, said women should insist on using condoms with their sexual partners. “Trust no one,” she said. “Safe sex. We can demand it, or we don’t have it.”

Studies show HIV is spreading rapidly among blacks, because other undiagnosed and untreated sexually transmitted diseases in that population can increase the odds of infection. Also, too few African Americans are getting tested.

News Courtesy : San Francisco Thronicle

Tags: HIV