Acceptance

A wide range of research in different social and economic settings in more than 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin and North America has shown a good acceptance of the female condom amongst women and men. These studies indicate that on average 50-70 per cent of male and female participants find the female condom acceptable. A study amongst street-based commercial sex workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, indicated that over 90 per cent of participants liked the female condom, with 70 per cent preferring it to the male condom. Research conducted in Brazil in 1999 amongst 2,000 female users of public health services found an acceptability rate for the female condom of 97 per cent. Additionally 56 per cent of their partners reported positively on its use comparing it favourably with the male condom in that it did not interrupt sexual activity and felt more like unprotected sex.