Botswana: 133 prisoners circumcised

Submitted by Mastodon on Mon, 2012-10-22 18:53

Article here. Excerpt:

'Speaking at a press briefing, Dr Rachel Seleka revealed that so far 133 inmates have undergone circumcision at their clinics. "So far we have at least 133 inmates from Gaborone, Moshupa and Molepolole prisons circumcised since April last year but we have not taken our initiative to the northern part of the country," she said.

Government introduced the SMC programme a few years ago, and there have been calls for the initiative to be extended to other vulnerable groups outside mainstream society. Seleka said they have discovered that inmates take health related issues more seriously when they are incarcerated.

Admitting that sodomy is a sensitive issue Prisons chief, Motlalekgosi acknowledged that there is sodomy in Botswana prisons."We know that sodomy is illegal in Botswana but it happens in our prisons, how we don't know.If it can happen in mainstream society, what about in places like prisons? I don't have evidence to say it's not happening but we have heard stories narrated by ex-inmates," he said. The Prisons boss observed that prison officers are not merely guards but treatment providers as well. "At any moment an officer is close to a prison inmate," said Motlalekgosi.'

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I can't tell what they are trying to do here, other than chop off mens' foreskins.

One of the quoted officials say that sodomy is illegal and it's a sensitive issue. OK. Now, is it no secret that in a closed population of people, all of them the same sex, restricted therein over a long period of time, that some portion of them, gay, bi, or straight, will engage in homosexuality. This is a given, true for both sexes, and it is true for prison and non-prison environments (e.g.: single-sex boarding schools, etc.). Now, in such conditions, the amount of sexual activity that is non-masturbatory and is homosexual will be 100% (excluding any possibility of sex acts with anything non-human). In other environments where the population is not single-sex and closed, it varies but is usually far from 100%, much closer to 5-10%, with the exception of areas within a larger society where non-heterosexuals specifically choose to co-locate (e.g.: certain cities that come to be known as especially "gay-friendly").

So, are they trying to stop sodomy here by circumcision? It would seem somehow that that is the implication. But has anyone been able to show that in so doing, the amount of sexual activity in such a population will (a) drop significantly and (b) go from being homo- to heterosexual?

As for (a), I don't think that has been shown anywhere. As for (b), well, as long as the population remains closed and single-sex, there is no chance of homosexual activity going from 100% of activity to anything less than 100%.

In short, this is just another bizarre and ignorant attempt to control men's sexualities via cutting off pieces of their penises. But guess what, it doesn't work! Circumcised men are just as likely to engage in homosexual behavior as non-circumcised ones. The only difference is that the "cut guys" probably enjoy it a lot less than the "uncut guys". But they still do it.

How many more centuries will have to pass before people get their collective heads out of their own collective arses when it comes to this topic??

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Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2012-10-22 19:56

The correct name of the country is Botswana, Africa.

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Submitted by charlie on Mon, 2012-10-22 21:00

Have no idea how the heck that happened. Thanks for mentioning it, I have corrected the subject line of the post.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2012-10-24 02:05