Women prisoners get 24-hour husband visits
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-09 09:08

The Beijing Women's Prison for the first time will allow conjugal visits for selected prisoners during the Spring Festival holiday.

It is the nation's only prison solely for women.

Twelve well-behaved prisoners will be allowed a 24-hour cohabitation with their spouses late this month on the first and second days of the Spring Festival, the 29th and 30th.

The prison has about 1,000 inmates in 12 units, and one inmate will be chosen from each unit, based on good behavior. The Beijing prison is the nation's only women's prison; all inmates are adults from the capital city.

Many other prisons, some with women's sections, allow conjugal visits.

In the women's prison, visits are usually face-to-face but inmate and visitor are divided by a plexiglass screen and speak on a phone. The prison allows occasional dinner visits and permits a family member - not the husband - to stay overnight. Now husbands will be able to spend the night.

The prison has built a cohabitation building. On the first floor, there is a greeting room, dining room and telephone greeting room. On the second floor, there are 12 cohabitation rooms. They contain a double bed, a toilet and other necessities.

Experts say that contraceptive education is necessary to avoid inmate pregnancies during conjugal visits.

The prison is now setting standards for selection and has accepted prisoners' applications for their spouses to visit. The prison will serve a traditional family dinner.

According to the rules on labor reform for prisoners, if conditions permit, inmates may live with their visiting spouses. But there is no law yet on this issue.