Paper Dolls, Female Condoms and Preventing HIV/AIDS

Remember when you were a little girl and you would cut out paper dolls to dress up and play with? Well, those very same paper dolls are now being used to raise awareness about HIV/AIDs and the importance of female condoms. Two women's groups have joined together to create a unique campaign meant to illustrate the growing worldwide demand for female contraceptives.

The YWCA of New Zealand and Positive Women, Inc. launched the Paper Dolls Campaign in early June with a massive chain of paper dolls being put on display at the United Nations Plaza during the UN's High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS. Each paper doll carries a personal message about female condoms. The campaign plans to carry through to November where thousands more paper dolls will be carried to the Dutch Parliament for the Universal Access to Female Condoms (UAFC) committee meeting.

UAFC is a joint program that works with other organizations to make female condoms affordable, accessible and available all over the world. Female condoms are a barrier contraceptive that reduces the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. They can be used vaginally or anally and reduce the risk of HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, HPV and Chlamydia. A woman's access to female condoms that are affordable is one of the paramount goals of the Paper Dolls Campaign.

Jane Bruning of Positive Women, Inc., an HIV positive women's group, lays out why female condoms are so important, "Less than one percent of all condoms distributed globally are female condoms. Over 99 percent are male condoms. This means that very few of the millions of people who would like to use female condoms for protection from pregnancy, HIV and other STI's can get them. Even where they are available, they are often priced out of the reach of most people."

The Paper Dolls Campaign wants to give women and girls the tools, education and resources that they need to make healthy reproductive choices. The uniqueness of the campaign is what makes it so interesting. It is very hard to dismiss or ignore thousands of paper dolls on display or on the march.

According to Planned Parenthood, an organization dedicated to women's health issues, the cost of a female condom in the U.S. is $4 each whereas the cost of male condoms is less than $1 each and often free. Female condoms in New Zealand cost $14.95 for a pack of three and male condoms cost $3 for a prescription of up to 144 condoms. Gross disparities in prices of female vs. male condoms take place all over the world. Hopefully the Paper Doll Campaign can change that.