A greater need for female condoms

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Name of articles: A greater need for female condoms, HIV summit told

Name of journalist: Thandi Skade

Name of publication: The Star

Date: 01 September 2011

Country: South Africa

Theme: HIV and AIDS

Skills: Perspective and Sources

Genre: News

GEM Classification: Gender Blind

Description
Global Health Council statistics put women aged 15-25 (sexually active group) as one-and-half times more likely to contract HIV than young men. We need to find alternative ways that can enable and empower women to protect themselves from contracting the virus. One initiative has been advocating the use of the female condom. However, the article under analysis, "A greater need for female condoms, HIV summit told" by The Star newspaper alleges that many women have no idea of how to use the female condom.

Headlines
The headline, "A greater need for female condoms, HIV summit told" captures the essence of the story. . There is an attempt to justify the importance of providing the female condom.

Sources
Three female voices are quoted in this article. However, it makes the story gender blind as it conveys women in a stereotypical manner. The article is discussing female initiated prevention and protection strategies. The issue at hand is about women, the use of female sources only can therefore not be justified. HIV and AIDS affect both women and men and it is important to also get men to say out their views on the female condom.
The author first quotes Edith Moosa, an expert in the subject being reported on, a grade 11 girl and the Minister of Social Development. The three sources plus a brief analysis of an ongoing scientific study on female initiated prevention and protection adds credibility to the story. However, the reporter does not attribute the source from which they got the statistics that alleges that young women aged 15-25 are one-and-half times more likely to contract HIV than young men.

Language
Overall, there are no sexiest or any language conveying biases or stereotypes in the article.

Visual images
A picture of Bathabile Dlamini, Minister of Social Development addressing the summit was used for the article. The picture anchors and reinforces the article.

Story angle and perspective
The story is well written and makes a case of the need for female condoms. It suggests that while the country is waiting for the results of the microbicide gel that is being tried, stakeholders should ensure that women have alternative means to protect themselves from infection. The article further notes that women do not know how to use the female condom, thus indirectly suggesting the need to educate and create awareness on the female condom. Although all the issues addressed in the story are important, the article could be confusing to the reader because it tackles a lot of issues randomly and within a few paragraphs. For instance, the story opens with the issue of most women's inability to use the condom and jumped into the microbicide clinical trials under way before telling a reader why women fail to use the protective measure. Further, the article simply quotes the Social Development Minister without posing further questions as to what the ministry will do to ensure that more women know how to use their condom. This question could have similarly been asked to Moosa. A male perspective on female condoms would have added value to the article and open discussion on female condoms which seems to be a taboo topic.

Training exercise
• How do sources affect newspaper story's credibility?
• What other follow-up questions could you have asked sources in the article to increase its depth?
• If you were to rewrite the story, who else would you have interviewed?
• Have a debate to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the female condom.

Other training resources

HIV and AIDS and Gender Baseline Study

Files to download: