Introducing and Negotiating the Use of Female Condoms in Sexual Relationships: Qualitative Interviews with Women Attending a Family Planning Clinic

Safe sex skills training often teach women to be assertive in condom use negotiations. However, it has been suggested that assertiveness training may be inappropriate for women who lack power in their sexual relationship. Our qualitative study of 62 women attending a family planning clinic explored various communication styles they used to introduce and negotiate female condom use in their sexual relationships. We further examined how different introduction and negotiation styles were related to actual use of the device. The device was introduced using a direct, semidirect, indirect, or nonverbal communication approach. Use of the female condom was negotiated by avoiding sex, using humor, discussing the possibility of using the condom, or being argumentative with partners. The outcome of introducing and negotiating female condom use was often mediated by other factors including partner characteristics, relationship power dynamics, situational context, and use of additional discourse strategies (e.g., describing the female condom as a sexual toy or taking the opportunity to educated partners about the female condom). Less direct approaches appeared to be as effective in facilitating use of the female condom as more direct approaches. Female condom introduction and negotiation styles that continued to engage their partners by using additional discourse strategies led to more frequent use of the device. Implications of our findings for HIV risk reduction program development are discussed.