This article, written by Lillian Roberts, is part of an African Alliance series celebrating 25 years of the inner condom in South Africa and the people who helped to establish the world’s biggest state-funded inner condom project.  

Dianne Massawe first got involved in advocating for inner condoms around 15 years ago when she was a research and advocacy officer at SWEAT. SWEAT is the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force, the first of its kind in South Africa. It has a 20-year history in organising sex workers, advocating for and delivering services to sex workers.

She has specialised in key populations, HIV prevention (PrEP), gender and human rights programming for the past 16 years.

“When one looks at the statistics, we know that especially in Africa, a majority of women who are infected with HIV are in marriages or a long term relationship where [male] partners don’t want to wear condoms,” she explains.  

Massawe says the inner condom is also a great way to give sex workers more control and power with protecting themselves from STIs and unwanted pregnancy.

“The sad thing about the inner condom is it’s not seen as appealing,” she adds.  

But why is it such a game changer?

Firstly, the inner condom is a game changer because it gives users more control when receiving anal sex or vaginal sex.

“The reality is that the male or external condom we all know of, is often used ineffectively which makes it more likely to break,” she says. It also protects a much smaller surface. The inner condom, like the external, protects against multiple things, but it has more benefits. It’s tougher.

“[The inner] condom is not as fragile as its counterpart. It should be made more easily accessible to all who need and want to use it.”

Future focused on the inner condom

Massawe hopes the condom will be made sexier. And more appealing. And more fun. She thinks there should be multiple versions so people have the options to choose.

“In the next 25 years I hope that the production cost will decrease, making it more easily accessible as currently that is one of the excuses,” she says candidly. “That this condom will be everywhere, all the time and that they will be popular and accepted, from all the social media and the extensive marketing campaigns [done], similar to the external condom.”

She adds that there needs to be a mind-set shift from the general population; for people to be unafraid to use them, and find out that if they are used properly, they can give the sensation of skin to skin contact.

“A lack of skin to skin contact is another excuse people have for not wanting to use condoms,” she explains.

“What we have done for the external we should aim to do for the internal condom and more, taking into account safety and not minimising effectiveness,” she says. “My mind is running wild with all the future possibilities!”