Protesters Gather in Washington DC to Tell CVS to Unlock Condom Cases
Over 200 community groups - working on issues from women's health to HIV/AIDS prevention - are calling on CVS CEO Tom Ryan to unlock condom cases in the company's nearly 7,000 stores nationwide. Representatives from several of the groups convened today in Washington, DC. to rally for the cause and discuss the issue publicly.Public health advocates have criticized the practice of locking condom cases, saying that it creates a barrier to access and stigmatizes condoms, both of which could lead to decreased condom use.
Even more unsettling is the fact that CVS disproportionately locks condom cases in communities of color and Latino communities. Surveys of more than 2,200 CVS stores found that the company locks up condoms in 19 of 21 markets surveyed. In 9 of those markets, CVS is at least three times more likely to lock condoms in communities of color than in white communities.
CVS locks condoms in these communities despite the fact that HIV/AIDS is the number one killer of black American women between the ages of 25 and 34, and the rate of new HIV infections among Latinos is three times the rate of whites.
Join hundreds of individuals nationwide who have already called on CVS to unlock its condom cases by signing our petition to the company here.
Posted by Alex G. on June 11, 2009, 3:36 PM
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