The Washington, D.C. Female Condom Initiative is a unique demonstration project
which aims to increase awareness, understanding, and use of the female condom, an
underutilized HIV and STI prevention method. Funded by the
M∙A∙C
AIDS Fund, this
public-private partnership aims to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission in the District of
Columbia.
The Washington AIDS Partnership leads this initiative, in collaboration with the
D.C. Department of Heath’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STI, and TB Administration (HAHSTA);
the Female Health Company; CVS/Pharmacy; and five local community partners: Calvary
Healthcare, Metro TeenAIDS, Our Place D.C., Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan
Washington and the Women’s Collective. These community partners provide in-depth
education about and access to female condoms for women and their partners.
The female condom is similar to the male condom in efficacy and reliability.
According to a World Health Organization study, male and female condoms are close
to equivalent in preventing unintended pregnancies:
- 94 – 98% effectiveness for the female condom
- 92 - 96% effectiveness for the male condom
However, this initiative has found that there is a lack of awareness and
understanding of the female condom and its benefits, and about female anatomy. This
negatively impacts acceptance and usage of the female condom. Unlike a male condom
which can be distributed in any accessible public location, female condoms require
a different approach. This project has found that consumers need to be repeatedly
exposed to female condoms before they are willing to use them. In addition, the
focus should not be just on women but also men. Our community partners have found
that men quickly accepted the female condom because it feels like they are having
sex without protection. This was a surprising “lesson learned” that broadened the
focus of this project to not just women but also their partners.
Agencies who would like to incorporate female condoms into HIV prevention
interventions need to:
- Have staff who are well versed in the female anatomy, know how to correctly use
a female condom, and understand the benefits of the female condom
- Educate both men and women about the female condom
- Incorporate role playing and negotiation skills into trainings so that
participants can practice dispelling incorrect assumptions about the female
condom
- Incorporate basic female anatomy information into all female condom
trainings
- Normalize female condoms by having them readily available
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