Condom fashion show promotes safer sex in India

Safer sex campaigners launched a condom fashion gallery in India on Wednesday (13 February).

Students of Mumbai’s Pearl Academy created outfits using condoms for an event in Thane, Maharashtra State.

Organizers also hosted a ‘my best friend’ condom selfie booth and a pop-up HIV testing site.

Led by Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) India, NGOs promoted the message ’safer is sexy’ and encouraged people to pledge to use a condom in events across the country.

There were 2.1 million people living with HIV in India in 2017 and 88,000 new infections, according to Avert.

About 2.7% of men who have sex with men were HIV positive.

Last year, India’s Supreme Court dismantled a colonial-era anti-gay law and decriminalized gay sex.

HIV and AIDS advocates welcomed it as an important step in combatting India’s epidemic.

Always in fashion

AHF introduced International Condom Day, celebrated on the day before valentine’s day each year, to promote safer sex.

Last year, AHF launched the theme ‘always in fashion’ to promote condom usage.

‘In more ways than one, condoms are fashion-forward,’ said Albert Ruiz of AHF.

‘They make a statement about your priorities: that you care about your health and that of your partner’.

‘They also express who you are: with hundreds of sizes, textures, colors and flavors, you can stick with what you like or change it up every time’.