I saw a letter from a Warden at a Virginia prison today…

“As a result of recent inquiries in regards to feminine hygiene products being an ideal way to conceal contraband, effective October 6, 2018, the use of tampons and or menstrual cup are no longer to be worn during visitation.  The use of tampons and or menstrual cup hygiene products during visitation are prohibited.”

“Offender visitors who have been recognized by the body scanner machine having a foreign object that could possibly be a tampon and has failed to remove such item prior to being screened, will have their visitation terminated for the day, and will have their visitation privileges reviewed.”

I don’t like to get upset over nonsense – I don’t have time for it.   This – isn’t nonsense.

Unfortunately, a good number of us who have been on prison visits know most prisons don’t encourage and welcome visitors.  To be fair – I know that is not all facilities.

But, my visits have too often been degrading.  A visitor is made to feel as if staff REALLY doesn’t want you coming back, sometimes going out of their way to express their control of the situation and making a visitor feel as unwelcome as possible.  In the visitor waiting area, we would share horror stories about our visits gone wrong due to staff, but most people would recommend not reporting it as it would be taken out on our loved ones.  So – the ugly behavior goes unchecked.

The visitors I got to know learned to approach staff meekly.  You were at their mercy, and we all knew it.

Now this – a tampon ban.

Every woman and their body chemistry is unique.  Some are blessed with 48 hour light flows and panty liners.  Some – not so lucky.  For anyone unaware – some require a ‘nighttime’ pad as well as a ‘super plus’ tampon, replaced every two to three hours to get discreetly through a couple days a month.  Not to mention discomfort – we won’t even discuss that.

To tell one of those ‘unlucky’ souls that they can’t go somewhere armed with their arsenal of sanitary supplies in place as well as having stand bys on deck – is to tell them to stay home.  Period.

Do I wish there were a way to sustain life on earth without females experiencing menstrual cycles?  Yes.  We don’t choose this. Do I wish there was no need for tampons?  Yes.

So – with Nottoway’s new rule – should an ‘unlucky’ one be able to schedule a visit with a loved on the first day of their period, it will now be a brief and uncomfortable visit.

With that said – if female visitors smuggling contraband disguised as tampons through their vaginas into prison has become such an issue, I would assume that all females with access to the facilities will be banned from tampon and cup use?   It’s no secret that staff bring in items from the outside, so a rule of this nature would have to include female officers, lieutenants, majors, wardens, counselors, clergy, vendors, etc, in order to be effective.

Furthermore – pads.  Are they next?  Certainly, if a tampon or cup could carry something into the facility that could outsmart the scanning machine, a pad could as well.  What about an adult diaper?  Or child’s for that matter?  What ‘personal’ hygiene items are more capable of hiding contraband through the scanning process than others?   Or is it only when something is physically inserted into an orifice that it is of concern?  And – if that is the case – couldn’t someone just stick their contraband into an oraface without using a tampon or cup?  Or – into a different orifice?  Does a tampon not look like a tampon on the scan?  Does a pad not look like a pad?  If a smuggler is going to smuggle items in through their body parts disguised as sanitary items – aren’t they the type of individual that will find another way?  Just sayin’…

Interesting policy – one that will make visitors feel welcome, encouraged to come back and possibly – umm… controlled.

Visiting a prison isn’t something anyone wants to do.  Nobody wants their friend or loved one to be in such a place, no matter what the reason.  Ideally, for all of us – inmates will maintain relationships during their incarceration.  Ideally, they will have the support of loved ones, recognize what they have done to be there and reevaluate how they are going to move on with their lives after prison.

Success for a prisoner – isn’t that in everybody’s best interests?

There is one thing we know.  People – visitors and staff – are going to continue to smuggle things into prison.  We are doing something seriously wrong if we can’t figure out how female visitors can be allowed to wear tampons on visits.  Way too much energy is being spent determining how to control and degrade a female visitor and not enough energy being spent on trying to find ways to encourage positive relationships that help people succeed and grow past their mistakes.