Feminist Looking Glass

Washington, DC will become the first city in the US to incorporate female condom distribution in its fight against HIV/AIDS. The city’s HIV rates are notoriously high, with rates reaching 3% of the population– higher than West African statistics, and about on par with Kenya and Uganda. The initiative will include providing free female condoms in salons, schools, and convenience stores in high-risk areas.

The motivation for the measure is to empower more girls and women to take control of their sexual health:

Officials said they are turning to female condoms to give women more power to protect themselves from HIV and sexually transmitted diseases when their partners refuse to use protection.

It’s a noble cause, but I am skeptical about its effectiveness. I wonder how many men who refuse to use male condoms will be open to female condom use. Its not as if female condoms are completely inconspicuous. It seems to me that men’s attitudes toward condom usage is the most important factor here. However, I do think that by offering only male condoms, DC (and other cities) is placing an unspoken onus on the man to decide on protection, while the women remain in a more passive role. The inclusion of female condoms creates an attitude that women are active participants, empowered to make health decisions in sexual encounters.

DC has been widely criticized for not properly curtailing its HIV/AIDS problem. The city’s failure to reduce HIV infection, coupled with controversy about HIV organizations’ extravagant travel expenses and missing tax returns, has prompted campaigns such as the one shown below. This poster, prominently featured all over DC, compares Washington’s HIV negligence  to the Bush Administration’s failures during Katrina.

Filed under: Health, Reproductive Rights, Sex Tagged: | aids, DC, Female Condom, Health, hiv condoms, Sex, washington dc