The 34-year-old prisoner, identified only as A.S., took his complaint to Italy’s highest court after his previous request for conjugal access was rejected by a regional court in Turin. The details of his crime and sentence have not been revealed.
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“It is important for prisoners to have affectionate relations,” Rita Bernardini, the Italian president of Hands Off Cain, said.
“Spain, France and even Romania have already created these rooms; Italy is way behind. We have an antiquated approach to sexual relations. It’s hypocritical.”
Irma Conti, who heads the national body charged with protecting prisoners’ rights, said the government was considering “the best solution” but noted the most practical option might be to issue inmates with a permit so they could leave prison for a fleeting conjugal visit.
“If you think of Regina Coeli [Rome’s central prison], where there are more than 1000 people, one room would not be enough,” Conti told Il Messaggero.
Despite concerns about oppressive conditions, Bernardini said not every prison in Italy was affected by overcrowding, and her organisation had identified 40 prisons where love rooms could be created to ensure couples could have a private life.
She said these rooms should be furnished so they could also be used for family visits. “Prisons should create a room that resembles a home as much as possible,” she said.
Meloni’s prison reforms have been described by ministers as “prison humanisation”.
But Antigone, a prison welfare organisation, said the law did not go far enough. According to its own data, Italian prisons currently house more than 62,000 inmates, more than 15,000 above capacity.
