Conjugal visits: The right to have sex in prison

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SANTIAGO.- Six wooden rooms, comforters with childlike prints on every bed, lamps, flower arrangements and wall clocks make for a cozy atmosphere hidden away behind a cold iron door and the age-old walls of the Santiago Women’s Penitentiary.

These are the conjugal visitation rooms of the prison, a facility complete with special accommodations for prisoners to receive intimate visits from their spouses.

There is a certain feminine touch to the Santiago Women’s Penitentiary. With the help of prison guards, inmates have decorated the conjugal visitation rooms where prisoners are allowed to take advantage of the inmate benefit outlined in the prison regulations for those who comply with certain requirements.  

"I set up something new for him every month; I wait for him here, always with something different. I always bring little odds and ends, candles", says 33 year-old Kathy, who is one of the 30 inmates allowed to use the conjugal visitation rooms twice per month.

They have intercourse there and they also have complete privacy. "We can talk about things that we just can’t address during a regular visit", says 26 year-old Anicett, who has been incarcerated for the last 10 months on charges of micro-trafficking.