Re: Condom Bar in Chandigarh

[Guest guest]

Kudos to the condom bar!

Re: /message/7362

As a long-time resident of Chandigarh, I have seen the city grow from a sleepy

town in the late 90s to this very fashion-conscious, outgoing and open place for

the youth of today. I congratulate Mr.Bir for breaking the barriers that a

typical 'sarkari' endeavour would have and promoting the condom bar. It is a

unique endeavour and I hope the initiative & spirit catches on at other

youth-centric eshtablishments in chandigarh.

As for the adverse comments, it is indeed surprising to read about

individuals from the creative/performing arts field as well as activists

nay-saying the effort. For one, contrary to what they say, condoms are about

responsibility in a very intimate way. Any individual who really cares for

his/her partner would think in such a responsible way.

Secondly, I fail to understand the 'cultural' readiness argument for such a

pragmatic and relevant issue as a person's sexual health and well-being.

Would someone argue that we are not 'culturally' ready for the danger of HIV &

AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections? How much water would such an

arguement hold with the all-too-well-known infection scenario?

As a communication consultant in Development - especially in HIV & AIDS

prevention, I feel is a a great platform to move away from the didactic,

user-unfriendly forms of communication and make awareness personal in a

'comfortable' setting.

Individual self-risk-perception is a strong motivator for behaviour change and

condom bars are as good as any form of communication. In fact, 'condom corners'

should be set-up at many more such places. University campus, rock garden,

sukhna lake, tagore theatre, hot

millions, petrol stations, to name a few.

Regards

Sameer Thakur

Development Communications Consultant

e-mail: mail2sameerthakur@...

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Re: /message/7370

This refers to Dr. Dilip Bhavsar's posting on,Condom Bar in Chandigarh

My apologies for a very late response to your post, in which you stated:

" If we start Condon Bars, wrong message will reach to general public,

especially youth regarding sex and easy availability of safe sex.

Likewise installing condom vending machines near colleges and schools

will give wrong message to students. Condom promotion is a important

part, of course, in AIDS control, but should be used very delicately.

It should not become a license for free sex. "

I find it terribly ironic when the medical establishment disregards

scientific evidence when it comes to contentious issues outside the

ambit of their expertise or cultural comfort level, such as premarital

or outside-of-marriage sex.

We need only to look at the population of India and the demographics

of the HIV epidemic to understand that, to the contrary of the claim

above, pre-marital abstinence and faithfulness within marriage are not

*adequate* HIV prevention measures for India.

According to NACO, 86% of HIV infections in India are via sexual

transmission. (1) Half of new HIV infections worldwide are among young

people under 25 years old.

According to UNAIDS and Kaiser Family Foundation, 62% of new

infections among young people in South Asia are among young *women*.

(2)(3) In India, the number of young women living with HIV/AIDS is

twice that of young men. (4)

12% of men aged 15-24 had sex with a casual partner in the past 12

months compared to 2% of women aged 15-24.(5)

If sex in India were happening as it is " supposed " to happen- within a

monogamous marriage- we would not have an HIV problem!

" In India, " marriage is actually women's primary risk factor, "

according to Suneeta Krishnan, an epidemiologist studying HIV and

gender issues in Bangalore. A UNIFEM community-based research

project in India pointed to some of the reasons for the increased

vulnerability of married women: condom use was extremely rare, adult

women had little negotiating power about sexual matters within

marriage and men who suggested using protection were suspected of

infidelity. Another study, at a health clinic in Pune, India,

found that of 400 women—93 per cent of whom were married—25 per cent

had sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and 14 per cent were

HIV-positive. Ninety-one per cent had never had sex with anyone but

their husbands. " (6)

In my opinion, in order to reduce the vulnerability of young women to

HIV infection (within marriage and outside of marriage), condoms must

be an essential part of any successful intervention- which must also

include abstinence, being faithful, adequate VCT services, and

comprehensive sex education that is developed by Indians for Indians.

Clearly India represents a difficult case for condoms. The level of

stigmatization of condom use seems insurmountable. Additionally, our

preoccupation with motherhood makes condom use within marriage

difficult.

These problems are not specific to India alone. Look at Egypt where

Islam controls the state and sex education in schools is practically

nonexistent. Look at Kenya where the church provides most of good

quality education and is unlikely to discuss or provide condoms. Look

at the US where HIV/AIDS policy is governed by the evangelical

christians.

What is the problem? The problem is that adults make the rules and

most adults don't want to admit that young people these days, all over

the world, have premarital sex.

Things have changed. My mother, born and raised in India, had a

typical arranged marriage and never even kissed someone before

marriage. Is that something specific to our culture? Or is that

something specific to cultural norms that existed in the 1970s all

over the world? Do those norms still exist in India? Maybe more so,

and in a different way, than in other cultures, but let's not fool

ourselves into thinking Indian teens today are as " chaste " as they

were in 1970.

Is this an imposition from the West? I don't think so. Until you turn

off every single tv and close down every cinema in India, Indian youth

will still be exposed to Aishwarya Rai jiggling her breasts on stage,

and low-quality misogynistic Bollywood soaps depicting rape and

violence against women as a norm.

Let me be clear, I am not advocating for censorship in any form. I

believe that any medical intervention should be based on scientific

evidence, not on one group of individuals' personal beliefs. This is

not to say that HIV interventions should be medicalized alone. They

must take into account the social drivers that increase risk to

infection such as poverty, lack of education, etc.

This debate can and has gone on for ages. In my opinion it is time for

us all to look at the evidence and stop moralizing reality.

Moreover, Chandigarh is a hotspot of migration. I was there just a few

years ago en route to Simla and every third person there was a

trucker. I do not need to tell you about the correlation between

truckers and HIV infections.

Marriage is not a protective factor. If it were, young women in India

would have a much lower infection rate. Young Indian women are less

likely to have premarital sex than young Indian men. If a woman

doesn't have sex before marriage and is then infected by her husband,

that means that her husband has either had premarital sex or is not

faithful to her.

This simple logic must govern our HIV prevention interventions. Thus I

am fully supportive of the condom bar in chandigarh. Dr. Bhavsar, I

look forward to hearing your perspective.

Best Regards,

Joya Banerjee | Program Coordinator | Global Youth Coalition on

HIV/AIDS | www.youthaidscoalition.org

joya@... | 307 West 38th Street, 1805 | New York,

NY 10018 | 212.661.6111 | 1-212-661-1933 (fax) |

(1) NACO Monthly Update 2007: http://www.nacoonline.org/facts_reportaug.htm

(2) UNFPA, " State of World Population: Investing in Adolescents'

Health and Rights, " 2003. (3) UNAIDS, " At the Crossroads " : 2004

(4) Kaiser Family Foundation, " HIV/AIDS in India, " September 2005.

(5) UNAIDS Country Progress Indicators 2007,

http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Countries/india.asp

(6) UNFPA: " Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis. " 2004,

http://www.unfpa.org/hiv/women/report/chapter2.html