Cape Town - It places protection firmly in a woman’s own hands and increases sexual pleasure for both parties, but it hasn’t yet won the hearts of either gender as a first choice.
This is what a recent study in the Western Cape concluded about the female condom, however, those in favour say a lack of information is at the root of the problem.
The study, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council, involved a group of 575 sexually active pupils and it was found that the male condom was still the prophylactic of choice among both males and females.
According to Emma Arogundade, a PhD intern in the Human and Social Development programme at the HSRC, “the female condom was the second choice of prophylactic among males, and for females was only ranked third”.
She said this prompted the question whether this outcome was due to the availability of the female condom or to perceptions around its use.
“Only five million female condoms were distributed in South Africa in 2012 compared with 492 million condoms in the same period,” she said.
Marion Stevens, a research associate at the Africa Gender Institute, said the female condom had started on the back foot
“There has been no marketing of female condoms to make it sexy or explain how they work.
“Health workers have not been trained to provide information to clients on how to use them, and there is a lot of misinformation regarding… lubrication, whether they are made from latex or not, and when to insert them,” she said.
Stevens said that another problem is that they “just arrive at the clinic” without the government releasing any information.
Because of a general lack of information, she said: “Most people don’t realise that female condoms are in fact more pleasurable for men as they create lots of room and additional sensation, while male condoms can be quite restrictive.”
On the outcome of the study, she said: “It is a pity as this is a great option for men and women to address safer sex options for unintended pregnancy and HIV prevention. It also gives women the option of saying to her partner, ‘Do not worry. I am wearing a condom today, we are protected’ in a context where men do not want to wear condoms regularly,” she said.
Another hindrance was the noise that the first female condom in the country – made of latex – produced during sex.
The report said that Female Condom 2 did not have this problem, but that “early stereotypes persist”, and “difficulty inserting it remained the most often cited reason for not using it again.”
The study also looked at pricing (it costs 10 times more to produce than a male condom) and suggested the largest buyers of the female condom, SA, India and Brazil, should band together to buy in bulk to reduce the cost.
Cape Times