Last month on 13th February 2023, TICAH celebrated #InternationalCondomDay, a day to raise awareness about the use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. 
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In Kenya, one in five girls between the ages of 15 and 19 years is either pregnant or already has a child. While condoms are the most commonly known contraceptive method, use of condoms is generally low. For example, in last year’s Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), less than half of the men who reported having multiple partners stated they had used a condom in their last sexual encounter. Only 24% of women with multiple partners in the past year reported condom use during their last sexual encounter (KDHS 2022).
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In our programming at the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH), we are committed to providing information and engaging in conversations around safe sex. Open, honest and bold conversations are necessary to understand people’s perceptions, fears and questions about condom use and reproductive health in general. 
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From our conversations with young people in our communities, we have learned some key aspects that inform how we talk about condom use: For example, some young people in our communities fear pregnancy more than infection with HIV. While some know that condoms can effectively prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, they don’t feel confident to negotiate condom use with a partner. And often, we hear widely shared misconceptions that prevent condom use linked to pleasure: The myth that sex with condoms is not pleasurable. 
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While awareness of the why & how of condom use is an essential step, TICAH believes we need to engage more deeply with underlying dynamics that inform our perceptions and behaviors. When talking about International Condom Day, we believe one of the most important conversations we need to have in conversation about safe sex is about agency. We understand agency as a combination of factors, including knowledge, choice, power and leadership. How do we take these factors into account when talking about safe sex? 

• Accurate Knowledge/Information: We inform community members about how to use a condom and demystify some of the common misperceptions, so that they use this knowledge in their own relationships, but also share the same with their partners and community around them. We also have bold conversations around pleasure and ways to have pleasurable sex while keeping safe. With this, we are bringing sexy back into safe sex conversations!
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• Choice: Once equipped with the knowledge, the individual can then freely identify what is suitable for them based on their motivation and desires, for example whether to have a child now or not, or with whom to have sex with.
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• Power: We understand power as an individual's ability to influence how the decision making process happens, agree to the possible outcomes and own the final outcomes of the decision-making. Through safe space conversations we are able to dissect what issues women and girls have when it comes to negotiating for condom use, discussing the various levels of power at play and build their ability to navigate these discussions in their relationships. 
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• Leadership: From our engagements with communities, we have raised community champions who then support others to access their rights through sharing knowledge and additionally referring others around them for condom use and other SRHR services.  
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For us at TICAH, enhancing the agency of individuals and communities – and especially the most marginalized - means to build their capacity to affect their personal and social context and remove barriers to fundamental rights, informed choices and decisions as well as increase their access to resources and services for holistic health. We invite you to join us in talking about agency when it comes to safe sex. 

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