More than 200 community groups from across the country came together today in Washington’s Dupont Circle, just across the street from a CVS, under the banner of the Cure CVS campaign, with a simple demand for the pharmacy giant: unlock the condoms.
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.
Speakers at the rally included Rev. Bob Coleman of New York City’s Riverside Church, Melody Drnach of the National Organization for Women, Waheeda Shabaaz-El of the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), Sarah Audelo of Advocates for Youth, Antonio Davis of ACT UP Philadelphia, Juan David Gastolomendo of the Latino Commission on AIDS, Julie Grigsby of Black Women for Wellness, Richard Zaldivar of The Wall/Las Memorias, and Brian Hayes of Operation Samahan.
I was there with my digital camera, so I present you now with a slideshow of photos from the rally:
Want to help? Sign the campaign’s online petition urging CVS to unlock the condoms!
Comments (2)
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That is whats best for each store. I think you people have nothing else better to do. Leave them alone and do something more serious. If they are locked up its because people steal them. Its not dicrimination. Please!!
Posted by Ted on June 20, 2009 at 12:16 AM
Posted on June 20, 2009 at 12:16 AM
You people make me sick. If you owned a pharmacy yourself, putting your own money at risk...you would lock up the condoms too and tell them to go to a free clinic where they pass them out for free. This isn't racist, sexist, or anything else you might want to classify it as. This is simple business.
it makes sense that your group's slogan is "the american dream for america's workers" rather than "the american dream for america's management." With your type of mentality, you will simply stay a worker, rather than moving up to managment.
Posted by Tony on June 26, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Posted on June 26, 2009 at 4:33 PM