They usually had sex in the cell of one of the participants or in the showers, during periods of association. Some men who shared cells had sex at night.
When asked how many sexual partners interviewees had had in prison, numbers ranged from one to “about 30, 35”. He said he had resumed exclusively heterosexual relationships since leaving prison, and he added: “I’m completely straight what happened then was just about having my sexual needs met, in a particular time and place, where I couldn’t get sex.” One heterosexual man said that he had had consensual sex with gay or bisexual prisoners “out of necessity”. The research project found that the availability of condoms and dental dams – to minimise prisoners’ risk of exposure to sexually transmitted infections – varied from prison to prison.
