Meet our 'Laadli' scribe - Rupsa Chakraborty

Rupsa Chakraborty received the Laadli award from veteran journalist P Sainath on Friday

When mid-day's health correspondent Rupsa Chakraborty had gone in search of female condoms for her story, she found nothing but defeat and rejection at pharmacy after pharmacy. But nearly a year later, on September 14, it was a day of triumph for the journalist, who won the prestigious Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for highlighting the struggle of women looking for protection during sex.

Rupsa's front-page report, 'The real reason why Mumbai women won't buy that female condom', published in mid-day on November 8, 2017, detailed her struggle to buy the contraceptive device even as a series of shopkeepers either turned her away, ridiculed her or tried to fleece her. Her report, which won the Best Investigative Story in English (Western Region), highlighted how women battle stigma and ridicule from shopkeepers for the unthinkable crime of trying to protect themselves from STDs and unwanted pregnancy.

The internal condom is said to be the most effective means of protection against HIV for women, but high cost, lack of availability and the stigma attached to female condoms have made the concept a failure.

Read Rupsa's story here: The Real Reason Why Mumbai Women Won't Buy That Female Condom

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