Female condoms don't work!

Once heralded as a solution to putting reproductive health choices in the hands of women, some say the manufacturers of the Femidom – a sheath meant to help women prevent pregnancy and diseases during sexual intercourse – go back to the drawing board and come up with a more “user-friendly” contrivance. They argue the female condom currently in circulation is satisfying men, while frustrating women.

Thabitha Khumalo, Member of Parliament for Bulawayo East in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, took a few minutes from the packed schedule of a recent HIV Progress review workshop in Johannesburg to dwell on the inadequacies of the female condom.

Ever used a Femidom?

With an open female condom dangling from one hand, the flamboyant lawmaker had participants in stitches of laughter, asking her colleagues - who included fellow parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organisations from all over southern Africa – if they had ever used it.

“Hands up those who have ever used this ‘drum.’ Don’t be shy, comrades,” challenged Khumalo, who is also deputy spokesperson of her party. As the participants looked down and giggled, three hands slowly went up; two women and one man. 

“Well, comrades, I have seen the female condoms. I have used this drum and I have demonstrated how it is supposed to be used. The challenge in using the female condom is, first of all, it is a drum,” she said. “The insertion of that condom is a challenge for every woman, especially when she gets to what we call a moment of madness; where she is waiting to have sex and the body is turning upside down. Inserting it becomes difficult unless one inserts it prior the romance to (obviate) the challenges of inserting it.”

It's uncomfortable

That is not the only challenge, she said. There are others, in comparison to which insertion is but a minor inconvenience. “As women we are challenged in terms of keeping it in place while there is that up and down movement. The poor woman is forced to hold on to the top of the female condom to make sure that it does not go into her,” she explained.

“In light of this, there is no point in us having sex because at the end of the day we will not enjoy it. Our minds will be pre-occupied with keeping the thing in place. This thing is a non starter,” she added amongst titters from the audience.

According to Khumalo, if researchers cannot figure out how to keep a female condom in place, other than by hand, they must turn their attention to other forms of contraceptives. “Perhaps we should have gels so that we don’t get infected because the female condom is a big No, No.”

Some activists have been pressing for the availability of more effective microbicides for women as a prevention tool. A microbicide is a gel meant to kill HIV-infected sperm and has the potential of giving the woman the ultimate decision, unlike the unwieldy female condom.

In an interview later, Khumalo revealed that she got no satisfaction when she used the Femidom. “With female condoms it is not about women also getting orgasms. It is all about fulfilling the needs of men. If you do not hold the thing in place, it is pushed (inside) and so there is no prevention. Hell, No!”

A South African woman, who preferred to remain unnamed, added that many women keep long nails, natural or artificial, which increases risks associated with the condom. “With long nails, the chances of perforating the Femidom are very high,” she said. She also echoed Khumalo’s sentiments that the condom is not comfortable. “The female condom produces a very irritating noise during sex – there is this crackling sound. So one has to deal with the irritation of trying to insert it, holding it into place and the noise. It is like a paper bag!”

Enjoy sex much?

Khumalo added, “How does one enjoy sex under such circumstances? As a woman, I have the right to have an orgasm, in fact, multiple orgasms. Where the female condom is involved there is no orgasm.” For her, the female condom is a measure of the extent to which society values women.

“It shows that women are nonentities when it comes to sex, health and their reproductive rights. When male condoms were designed, men gave feedback that prompted the manufacturers to hasten to improve it,” said Khumalo. “Some men complained that the condom was too small and bigger ones were made. Others said the material used to make male condoms at the time was so think that it interfered with sensation and thinner ones were made. What improvements have been made to the female condom?”

She reckons women may have to take drastic measures if they are to jolt men into thinking of “better” contraceptives than the female condom. “Women should deny men sex until they meet their demands for better prevention methods. If all over the world women say no to sex for a week, someone will come up with an effective gel,” she opined.

Agai Jones works for Population Services International (PSI), which markets female condoms in southern Africa. He was present when Khumalo lampooned the female condom. He says there has been mixed reaction to the product, but it has not been all bad.

“It’s difficult to sell it in some countries and less difficult in others. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, we have significant female condom sales. It works best when there is good interpersonal communication,” Jones said in an interview.

According to Jones, in Zimbabwe PSI deploys promoters to hair salons where they hold honest and open conversations with women who get an opportunity to ask questions. “It’s a product that requires some communication; men and women having a conversation about sex, which is not very typical in this region. The biggest challenge with the female condom is overcoming social norms.”

Jones thinks that the female condom is a great product, which can empower women because they actually control its physical installation. Unlike the latex male condom, the female condom, he adds, conducts heat so men and women derive pleasure from using it. It is, however, generously lubricated, which might make it unpopular in communities that place a premium on dry sex.

His advice to Khumalo?

“Try it again with a lubricant. Without lubrication, sex with a female condom is not pleasurable.”

He concedes, however, that the female condom has remained as it was when it was designed more than 10 years ago.
Moses Magadza is a journalist and freelance editor from Namibia. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service.

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