Female condom study explores role of peer support in sustaining use. Women's forum.

PIP: The AIDS Control and Prevention (AIDSCAP) Project's Women's Initiative, together with the US Agency for International Development, supported a study of the use of female condoms. 96 women in 10 focus groups in Nairobi and Sao Paulo participated in a discussion group about their experiences with the female condom designed to determine how the female condom affects women's ability to negotiate safer sex and to identify reasons for continued use and nonuse of the device. The study design allowed participants to help each other devise strategies for negotiating the use of the female condom with their partners and to sustain that use through peer support. Most of the women reported that use of the condom gave them the courage to discuss sex with their husbands and boyfriends. They remained, however, wary about occasionally denying their partners sexual intercourse. The study's design, women's networks, and men's perspective on the female condom are discussed. 55 men in six focus groups reported preferring the female condom over the tight and uncomfortable male condom, and planned to use them if made available.^ieng