Condom Use Within Marriage and Consensual Unions in the Era of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe

The paper examines condom use within stable unions like marriage and consensual unions. The data from DHS show that condoms are used by less than 6 percent of married couples in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper examines the determinants of condom use with spouse or regular partner among 1936 individuals in Zimbabwe. The results show that only 38 percent of the respondents reported using condoms consistently or occasionally with regular partners. There is little discussion about condoms in stable unions as only a fifth reported that they regularly talk about condoms with their spouses or partners. Couples who frequently discuss condoms are likely to be using them. The main barrier to discussing condoms is mistrust. In the focus group discussions, it was noted that bringing the subject of condoms to a partner might result in dire consequences like divorce, abandonment or physical abuse. The results show that people with negative perceptions about condoms are less likely to use them. The results also show that condoms are less likely to be used as a method of family planning, despite the fact that Zimbabwe has a high contraceptive prevalence rate. In this paper, women are more likely to have favorable attitudes about condoms and would like to use them, but the main barrier is their partners. Men's influence on the condom is to prevent their use.