Blog Archives

Subscribe to our blog feed

Join the cause on Facebook

Popular Tags

Results tagged “discrimination”

Results Page:

Kansas City Star investigates CVS stores over condom lock-up

Video from NBC News in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Star recently visited area CVS stores to check for the presence of locked condom cases -- and its findings mirror those of our own Cure CVS surveys conducted in other markets across the country, indicating that CVS locks condoms disproportionately in communities of color. CVS's chief competitor, Walgreen's, has a corporate policy prohibiting locking up condoms in its stores.

Furthermore, the Kansas City Star investigation revealed that, contrary to CVS's claims, CVS does not always make smaller, three-pack boxes of condoms available without staff assistance, even in stores in which it locks up the larger quantity boxes.

UPDATE: The video above, from NBC News in Kansas City, discusses how some community organizations are taking action on this issue.

Read the full article that appeared on the front page of today's Kansas City Star here.
Read NBC Kansas City's coverage of the issue here.

Posted by Alex G. on July 13, 2009 3:29 PM

Video: Cure CVS's Unlock the Condom Initiative Launches in Washington, DC



Representatives from over 200 community groups have signed a letter calling on CVS CEO Tom Ryan to adopt a company-wide policy prohibiting locked condom cases in CVS stores. On Thursday, June 11, in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC., the Cure CVS Unlock the Condoms initiative  made these demands public with a press conference and rally. The initiative encourages everyone to sign our petition asking CVS to Unlock the Condoms!

Posted by Alex G. on June 15, 2009 3:32 PM

Protesters Gather in Washington DC to Tell CVS to Unlock Condom Cases

DC_6-11-091.jpgOver 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

Video: On CVS's Corporate Responsibilities



Unitarian minister Judy Tomlinson speaking in Newark, NJ on May 21, 2009, on CVS's responsibilities to the communities it serves.

Posted by Alex G. on May 29, 2009 10:43 AM

New Yorkers Speak Out Against CVS's Condom Lockup

ny1-screenshot.gif

From New York City's NY1 News:

"We are in the top 10 counties in the nation for the spread of HIV and AIDS. It is irresponsible and racist to keep condoms locked up where people don't have access to them," said Lisa Winters, Bronx Community Pride Center.

"People shoplift in the suburbs, people shoplift in wealthier and white neighborhoods and they are not locking up condoms in those neighborhoods. Locking up condoms puts people at risk," said Louis Guida, CURE CVS.

Public Health Groups Hand Out Condoms In Bronx [NY1 News]


Posted by Alex G. on February 13, 2009 10:21 AM

Download Cure CVS Valentines

cure-cvs-valentine.gifThis Valentine's Day, tell CVS what's in your heart: ask the company to unlock condoms in all communities!

Use our Cure CVS Valentines to share with friends and family, or use them to send a very special message directly to the company. Just download, print and cut along the lines. Nothing beats it for the special someone in your life who cares about fair treatment for all communities!

To read more about CVS's condom policy and why it deserves to change, go to the Unequal Access section of our website.

Click here to download Cure CVS's "Unlock the Condoms" Valentine.






Posted by Alex G. on February 12, 2009 11:53 AM

Join the Call! Tell CVS to Unlock Condoms

candy-hearts.gifCommunity groups and public health advocates are calling on CVS to change its unfair condom lock-up policy. We'll be out in four cities today but support is already coming out online:

Jenice Armstrong: CVS urged to 'free' condoms [Philadelphia Daily News]
Gary J. Bell, executive director of BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues), said in an e-mail, "The practice of 'locking up condoms' in low-income neighborhoods, especially communities of color where rates of HIV, STI's [sexually transmitted diseases] and pregnancy continue to soar, is both short-sighted and dangerous.
Locked condoms spark protest [Metro Philadelphia]
"We face an HIV infection rate five times the national average," said Joanna Bouldin, of Change to Win. "As a woman, as someone who lives in Philadelphia I find it really appalling that a company that cares about health care" would lock up condoms.
Earth To CVS: Stop Locking Up Condoms In Poor Neighborhoods [Philebrity]
CVS brass say that those stores do so because of shoplifting and -- pardon the word here -- shrinkage history, but the fact remains that this is an awful, awful policy: It puts a barrier between birth control and STD protection in places where it's often needed the most. So today at noon, protesters will gather at the Broad & Girard CVS in an effort to basically shame CVS into setting the jimmy hats free. Philebrity supports this protest -- CVS, there's gotta be another way.

Join the call for reform - tell CVS to have a heart and unlock the condoms!

Posted by Alex G. on February 12, 2009 10:38 AM

Consumers Weigh in on Cure CVS


Kevin Paris, a CVS shopper and Philadelphia resident, speaks to the Cure CVS team about the company's unfair practices, and why he thinks it's important now more than ever that the company change its ways.

Posted by Alex G. on January 29, 2009 4:20 PM

Cure CVS on Martin Luther King Day, 2009


January 19, 2009, had what looks like some downright miserable weather. But an intrepid team of Cure CVS reps were out on the streets of Philadelphia, encouraging shoppers to cast a critical eye on the retailer. Click here to download the flier shown in the photos above.

Posted by Alex G. on January 26, 2009 5:16 PM

Cure CVS: Speaking Out Across the Country


Community leaders across the country are speaking out against CVS's business practices. Hear some of them speak in the video above.

Posted by Alex G. on January 26, 2009 1:53 PM

More on discriminatory practices at CVS


Karen Blanding, speaking for the New York State NAACP chapter, criticizes CVS's practice of locking products behind glass in low-income neighborhoods:
Locking stuff up is very discriminatory. People who steal don't just steal in poor neighborhoods, they steal throughout.

Posted by Alex G. on January 16, 2009 3:44 PM

KCTV Investiages Discrimination at CVS Stores


An investigation from KCTV 5 News in Kansas City, MO. Investigative reporter Ash-har Quraishi summarizes his findings:
Nearly every product geared toward African Americans - like "African Pride," "Dark and Lovely," "Just for Me" - slapped with a CVS security sticker.

Not once did we find these stickers on "Born Blonde," "Revlon," "L'oreal," or dozens of other similar products geared towards whites, even though their average price was almost twice as much.

Posted by Alex G. on January 13, 2009 4:07 PM

Jump to page:

1