By Chukwudi Nweje / Acting Features Editor
Women’s reproductive health rights are a subject not many people want to discuss. For cultural and religious reasons, the topic is often treated as a taboo and not to be spoken about not even by the women.
However, it has been an ongoing campaign that has gained global attention. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) advocate for reproductive rights with a primary emphasis on women’s rights. In this respect the UN and WHO focus on a range of issues from access to family planning services, sex education, menopause, and the reduction of obstetric fistula, to the relationship between reproductive health and economic status.
The reproductive rights of women are also advanced in the context of the right to freedom from discrimination and the social and economic status of women.
As part of this, September 16 of every year is celebrated as Global Female Condom Day (GFCD). It is a day of education and advocacy dedicated to female condoms. The day provides opportunity for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocates around the world canvass for and create awareness on the reproductive health rights of women.
As part of activities to mark the 2014 edition which is the third annual GFCD, the Nigeria Coalition on Female Condom (NCFC) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocates in the country held a dance rally and a press conference in Surulere, Lagos and Lokoja to highlight and enlighten people on the female condom, which they called an “unsung and highly effective health tool.”
The dance attracted an array of groups and individuals, activists and professionals in various outfits’ advocating for sexual health, HIV prevention and reproductive justice through the demand for availability of female condom (FC) as they called on government and stakeholders to support the campaign.
NCFC is made up of groups and individuals committed to increasing awareness, access, and use of FC through education, advocacy, and collaboration and also serve as local points of advocacy, training and community organizing.
The objectives of the Coalition include: demand for full integration of female condoms into sexual health, HIV prevention, and family planning programs in the public, private and non-profit sectors; implement programs and policies to scale up female condom awareness, acceptance, access and use; research, development, and approval of receptive-partner initiated barrier methods that will be worn vaginally or anally; facilitate the exchange of successful program practices and advocacy strategies through peer-to-peer programmatic support; and to maintain a focus receptive partner initiated barrier methods for vaginal and/or anal use.
The coalition also used the occasion to urge policy makers to invest in female condom education programming and distribution to meet the national need and demand.
The theme of this year’s celebration is Dance for Demand and featured dancing by the Global Female Condom Coalition to call and create awareness for the demand of female condoms all over the world.
Why the demand
Female condoms are the only woman-initiated method that offer dual protection against unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Even though women and men around the world want access to the female condom, this important option is not yet widely available or accessible.
Ada Agina-Ude, NCFC President said that the Coalition’s campaign became necessary because after more than 22 years of the invention / introduction of the female condom not much is heard about it as it scarcely available in the market unlike the male condom that is widely sold by every shop. She also noted: “As you know, women and men around the world have an urgent need for dual protection from sexually transmitted infections including HIV and unintended pregnancy.
“In Nigeria there are over 3.4 million individuals living with HIV/AIDS with 58 percent of them women. In the last one year there were 300, 000 new cases of people newly infected. Additionally there is an unmet need for contraception by 20:20(percentage of unmarried women ages 15 – 49) in Nigeria as reported by the World Bank.
“Even though female condom is the only method that offers life-saving, women initiated dual protection; it is not part of our national health strategy / HIV prevention or family planning method easily available and mixed at public health clinics.
“We are not unaware of the huge resources expended by the United Nations population Fund (UNFPA) World Health Organisation (WHO) and other local and international bodies. Yet it remains inaccessible, unavailable and unaffordable.”
NCFC therefore used the occasion of the GFGC commemoration to urge government at all levels and policy makers to invest in female condom education programming and distribution to meet the national need and demand.
Safety
The NCFC also cleared the misconstruction of female condom saying that contrary to some insinuations that it was a sign of laxity on the part of women that it is aimed at promoting healthy living.
They explained that like with the male condom, that female condom serves to provide a barrier to the exchange of bodily fluids during sexual intercourse that can lead to HIV transmission.
The Protem President of the Coalition noted that “female condoms not only play a vital role in improving reproductive health but they are also the only method available today designed to offer woman dual protection from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Female condom not only protects the woman from STIs from the man, they also protect the man from STIs from the woman.”
Explaining further on the female condom, Dr. Dumebi Owa (MD), the Protem Vice President said that unlike the male condom that can only be inserted when erection is achieved, that the female condom can be inserted at anytime, even up to five hours before sexual intercourse.
She urged men to encourage and support making the female condom widely available, noting that while the male partner has to withdraw and pull off the male condom immediately after ejaculation, with the use of female condom, the man will not have to worry about that.
Purpose of the Coalition
The coalition also seeks research, development, and approval of receptive-partner initiated barrier methods that will be worn vaginally or anally, and to facilitate the exchange of successful programme practices and advocacy strategies through peer-to-peer programmatic support; and to maintain a focus receptive partner initiated barrier methods for vaginal and/or anal use.
Agina-Ude said the NCFC is distinguished from other groups advocating for the promotion of female condom by its emphasis on the promotion of FC as a gender issue as different from a purely health issue.
“Female condoms are urgently needed to keep women and men in Nigeria healthy. Female condom is very important for women and condom use is clearly a gender issue because unequal power relations make it difficult for many women to negotiate the use of male condom with their partners.
Today we put to rest the question of whether people want female condom. It is clear that in fact we demand access to female condoms,” she concluded.
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