Same-sex sexual activity of male prisoners in England and Wales

A random sample of 1009 adult male prison inmates from 13 prisons covering short-, medium- and long-term establishments across England and Wales was interviewed about sexual behaviour, drug use and tattooing, inside and outside prison. We report here on their same-sex sexual activity. Thirty-seven men reported having engaged in sexual activity with a man during adulthood. Twenty-two men reported having had sex with a man in prison. Indirect support for this prevalence rate was given by sexually transmitted disease rates and prisoners' estimates of same-sex sexual activity occurring in prison. Twenty out of the twenty-two inmates had engaged in same-sex sexual activity previously outside prison. Two men had sex for the first time in prison (uncoerced). Approximately one-quarter of men who had same-sex sexual activity in prison reported having been coerced into having sex at some point. Same-sex sexual activity appears to be less frequent in the UK prison system as a whole than has previously been suggested.