The Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society has begun promoting a ‘Pink Umbrella’ campaign to popularise the use of female condoms and is offering it at a subsidised rate of Rs 5 per piece to give women the power to practise safe sex.
“The female condom is not a substitute for the male condom, which is still the most effective and easy to use barrier contraceptive. However, most often, the woman does not have a say in condom usage.
With a female condom, she can protect herself from both sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy,” explains P.T. Madhusudhanan, state marketing manager, condom promotion, Tansacs.
Tansacs staff has conducted workshops to teach sex workers to use the female condom and will now promote the product among the general population.
“A female condom can also be used during menstruation and pregnancy. More women are coming forward to try it. It took 20 years for the male condom to be fully accepted and we are happy with the progress the female condom has made,” he adds.
Each female condom costs Hindustan Latex Limited Rs 36 to manufacture; but the PSU is providing the membrane at a heavily subsidised Rs 2.50 to ‘peer educators’ from NGOs who will in turn sell it at Rs 5.The problems with the female condom are many.
The membrane needs to be held in place during intercourse and according to senior doctors, some sex workers tend to re-use it.
They may keep it on for 6 hours or more, servicing several clients at a stretch, posing an infection hazard for their clients.
However, a handful of sex workers, who have been part of a study group have positive inputs about the female condom.
“Initially, the female is difficult to use, but one gets used to it. The problem with most of our clients is that they refuse to wear a condom; they feel it hinders pleasure.
Now I can wear the female condom before the client arrives and as most of them come in an inebriated condition, they do not realise that we are wearing a condom,” says Kaniga.