A look at female condoms from public school students

摘要

OBJECTIVE to find the social representations of female students about female condoms. Methodology: exploratory and descriptive study, with qualitative approach, based on the Theory of Social Representations. METHOD 94 students from high school students, technical courses, and adult education participated, all from public schools from a municipality in the countryside of Bahia/Brazil, and responded to the test of free word association. The evocations were submitted to the softwares EVOC and IRAMUTEQ. RESULTS students recognize that the female condom is a technology that provides autonomy, protects against sexually transmitted infections, and prevents pregnancy. In contrast, they reported that their reasons for not using the method are finding it uncomfortable and strange. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS Social representations point to the need for strategies that promote information exchange and stimulate practical knowledge about the female condom among public school students.