Slopping out is the manual emptying of

human waste Human waste (or human excreta) refers to the waste products of the human digestive system, Menstruation, menses, and human metabolism including urine and Human feces, feces. As part of a sanitation system that is in place, human waste is collect ...

when prison cells are unlocked in the morning. Inmates without a flush toilet in the cell have to use other means (formerly a

chamber pot A chamber pot is a portable toilet, meant for nocturnal use in the bedroom. It was common in many cultures before the advent of indoor plumbing and flushing toilets. Names and etymology "Chamber" is an older term for bedroom. The chamber pot ...

, then a bucket, now often a

chemical toilet A chemical toilet collects human waste in a holding tank and uses chemicals to minimize odors. They do not require a connection to a water supply and are used in a wide variety of situations. These toilets are usually, but not always, self-conta ...

) while locked in during the night. The reason that some cells do not have toilets is that they date from the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and were therefore not designed with plumbing. As a result, there is no space in which to put a toilet, together with the expense and difficulty of installing the necessary pipes.

Dirty protest

During the late 1970s,

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

volunteers protested against conditions of internment at

HM Prison Maze HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

by refusing to slop out and instead smearing their faeces on the cell walls. This was later referred to as the dirty protest, part of several acts of disobedience within the "H-Blocks" culminating in the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike.

Phasing out

Slopping out was allegedly abolished in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

by 1996, although ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' in 2011 reported that Prisons Inspector Nick Hardwick stated that it still persisted at HMP Gloucester. It was scheduled to be abolished in Scotland by 1999. Due to budget restraints the abolition was delayed, and by 2004 prisoners in five of Scotland's sixteen prisons still had to slop out. Slopping out ended in HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont in 2007, leaving HM Prison Peterhead as the last Scottish prison where prisoners did not have access to plumbing; 300 prisoners had to use chemical toilets due to the difficulty of installing modern plumbing in the prison's granite structure. Peterhead ultimately closed in December 2013. Slopping out is still in practice in prisons in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. Speaking at the launch of the Irish Human Rights Commission's Annual Report for 2009, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Junior Minister for Integration Mary White said it was time to move on from the Victorian practice. Slopping out was eradicated in Dublin's

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison (), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Ray Murtagh. History Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...

by the end of 2013 and in

Cork Prison Cork Prison () is an Irish penal institution on Rathmore Road, Cork City, Ireland. It is a closed, medium security prison for males over 17 years of age. As of 2022, it had a bed capacity of 296 and the daily average number of resident inmates ...

in 2016. However, the practice continues at

Limerick Prison Limerick Prison in Limerick is an Irish penal institution. It is a closed, medium security prison, and has an official capacity of 290 male beds and 20 female beds. The average daily number of male inmates in 2009 was 298 and of female inmates ...

Other

A "potwalloper" was a trusty prisoner who made sure the buckets were emptied and cleaned each morning. He did not do the cleaning himself, but he was responsible for making sure that other prisoners did.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slopping Out Toilets Imprisonment and detention fi:Paljuselli

Dirty protest

Phasing out

Other

See also

References