Female condom report:'Failing women, witholding protection'

August 8, 2008

Launched at the international AIDS conference in Mexico the joint report by Oxfam and WPF: Failing Women, Withholding Protection.  15 lost years in making the female condom accessible.

Policy makers lament women’s vulnerablity to HIV infection, yet for 15 years they have failed to utilise a technology which can help women to protect and empower themselves.

The female condom is the only female-initiated method which provides protection from HIV infection; it also prevents unwanted pregnancy.

Studies have shown it is acceptable to users, increases the proportion of protected sex acts, and is cost-effective when provided in addition to male condoms. Yet most women cannot access female condoms.

New female-initiated technologies such as microbicides will not be available for many years. Female condoms exist now; the push for universal access to them should begin now.

Why provide female condoms, when male condoms are readily available, much cheaper, and provide a comparable level of protection?

• Female condoms are a tool to assist women’s empowerment. Women who use female condoms report an increased sense of power for negotiation of safer sex, and a greater sense of control and safety during sex. It will be many years until women have any alternative female-initiated means of protecting themselves.
• Providing both female and male condoms leads to more instances of protected sex and reductions in the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Their additive effect, providing protection in instances which would not be protected by male condoms, makes them a cost-effective form of HIV prevention.