Va. to bar tampons, cups for women visiting inmates

RICHMOND, Va. — Women who visit inmates at Virginia prisons will be barred from wearing tampons or menstrual cups under a new policy stemming from concerns about contraband, the state Department of Corrections said Monday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections said the policy set to become effective next month is aimed at preventing contraband from being smuggled into prisons.

“If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of Corrections inmate, he or she cannot have anything hidden inside a body cavity,” spokeswoman Lisa Kinney wrote in an email.

Kinney said that after the DOC consulted with the state Attorney General’s Office, “it was decided that facilities would offer pads to women who are wearing tampons while visiting a prison so the tampons don’t appear as possible contraband on a body scan.”

Inmate advocates sharply criticized the policy.

“That’s such a violation,” said Jana White, a co-founder of the Virginia Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia urged DOC Chief Harold Clarke to reverse the policy.

“A policy like this one that requires those who wish to visit people who are incarcerated to set aside their dignity and health is simply unacceptable,” the ACLU said in a statement.