Re:National Workshop on Prevention Options for Women

[Guest guest]

[This is in response to Dr. Radium Bhattacharya's report of the National

Workshop on Prevention Options for Women: Female Condom and Microbicide. 10th

-11th October, New Delhi. Moderator]

Dr Radium Bhattacharya's great initiative on HIV/AIDS prevention options for

women at a larger scale is highly commendable.

I remember my experience in early 1999 when i tried to obtain female condoms for

distribution among CSWs and couples i interviewed for my PhD fieldwork. My

intention was that even if the women did not actually use them (as i was told

that it was not very easy), it would empower them just to possess one and help

persuade their male partners to use condoms.

It was not easy to get someone even in London to donate them for distribution in

India. I did manage to get 100 female condoms after knocking on several doors.

Further in India itself, even doctors at the hospitals where i was conducting my

field work expressed ignorance and resistance to the idea of female condoms. The

attitude then was that all condoms would encourage promiscuity.

It is indeed progress that three years on this initiative has been taken and

hope that it does not stop at habitat centre but becomes widespread and relevant

to the vast diversity that is India.

Ruth Kattumuri, London School of Economics

E-mail: <r_katts@...>

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