Washington, D.C., July 11, 2012: DKT International (DKT) and The Pleasure Project join forces at the XIX International AIDS Conference to encourage worldwide use of condoms and other forms of safer sex – the most effective and inexpensive tool to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
A joint satellite session to be held Tuesday July 24, 7:00 am -8:30 am, entitled, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Pleasurable Safer Sex but Were Afraid to Ask,” will provide attendees “20 questions on Sex, Pleasure and Health,” ranging from “Why do people have sex?” to “What techniques work to eroticize safer sex?”
Empirical evidence from DKT Brazil will show receptiveness to safer sex messages have improved when pleasure and desire are incorporated into marketing efforts. DKT and The Pleasure Project avoid negativity in promoting safer sex by focusing on the key motivators for having sex: desire and pleasure. Evidence suggests that positive incentives provide the most effective way to safer sex behavior.
The biennial International AIDS Conference, in Washington, D.C., is the premier gathering for those working for HIV prevention, and is expected to draw more than 20,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries. Washington, D.C. based DKT International is a social marketing organization that employs traditional marketing techniques, social media and commercial sector infrastructure to promote family planning and safe sex in emerging countries. The Pleasure Project is an educational, advocacy and research initiative to promote safer sex that feels good. They will also co –host ‘How to Put the Sexy Back into Your Safer Sex Programs,’ skills building Workshop on Thursday 26th July 11:00 am – 12:30 pm.
“We are looking forward to using this satellite session, to review what works in delivering a sensual but meaningful safe sex message based on our experience in Brazil with social marketing programs,” says, Daniel Marun, head of DKT International’s initiative in Brazil. “We’ve found that a ‘safe sex can be pleasurable’ message is highly successful at reaching young, upwardly mobile adults who otherwise would be at risk.”
“In the HIV prevention world, sex is often treated as a necessary evil rather than a potentially pleasurable experience. Our session with DKT will show, from global experience, that a pleasurable message about safer sex has positive results,” adds Anne Philpott of The Pleasure Project.
In Brazil, the DKT Condom Tester Program website gives users a platform to comment on condom use and tag their location via GPS to show where they have recently used a condom. Each year, a randomly selected winner who has logged his or her activities gets a year’s worth of free condoms. The 2012 contest has sparked more than 100,000 website visits, 10,000 registered participants and 3,000 stories submitted from Brazil and countries around the world. DKT has sold more than one billion condoms in Brazil with the help of this effort.
DKT has employed a wide range of strategies and tactics globally to engage consumers with pleasure-positive behavior change messaging. This includes the use of sensual imagery associated with condoms use, provision of sex tips in product packaging, partnership with sexologists and sex bloggers, and the introduction of new technologies that enhance the sexual experience and ensure safety.
“I helped found DKT International to make contraceptives as attractive and convenient to buy as Coca-Cola around the world,” said Philip Harvey, President of DKT International. “Our goal was to provide low-cost contraceptives to people in developing countries through shops, kiosks and clinics and remind people about the pleasures of sex without the fear of pregnancy and STDs. The people we serve are buying affordable and attractively packaged contraceptives and using them. I believe their lives are substantially improved and more pleasurable as a result,” Harvey concluded.
The 2011 results of DKT’s 20 programs in 18 countries, which include protecting 22 million couples while preventing 6.9 million unwanted pregnancies and 1.4 million abortions, reaffirm DKT’s role as the largest private provider of family planning products and services in the developing world.
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