Give the Female Condom a Voice Too

In the recent past, we have witnessed so much media advocacy on various social issues. Many of these campaigns have been very instrumental for social change, which is a positive aspect. However, there are sectors in society that are significantly ignored across the globe.

The media, for instance, has so many campaigns and adverts on condom use but greatly ignore the female condom (femidom). Nobody seems keen to invest on publicizing this vital product.
A lot of women worldwide have never seen the female condom, let alone use it. Women need not only to be aware of the femidom, but they have to feel in charge of their sexual life too. Governments and communities should invest in promotions for it.

Besides advocacy, the female condom should be made affordable like the male condom. In most communities that advocacy for femidom has penetrated deeply, the women who realize that they need it are unable to purchase it because of its high cost. In most cases it is almost ten times the price of a male condom.
In the cases where the femidom is available for free, the ratio is quite small in comparison to the male condom. The various stakeholders that distribute them alongside the male condom hardly mention the existence of the femidom (lest they run out of stock).

Another vital concern is that although some women can freely access the femidom, they are not able to use them. Unlike the male condom, the procedure for effectively using the femidom is slightly complicated and quite tricky for inexperienced women. There should be many free community workshops on the use of the female condom. The wrong use of this product might make it ineffective and irrelevant.

Women should therefore be given an opportunity to enjoy the resources available for them in equal measures as their male counterparts. When women are empowered with the relevant health tools, the communities are very vigorous because by and large women are the drivers of social prosperity.