Gender Equality
Design Labs

Gender Equality Design Labs is a Gates Foundation funded experiment to take a human-centered approach to test hypotheses and establish a mechanism for regular feedback with panels of women in priority geographies.      


This research was guided by two hypotheses related to vaginal insertable products:



Education & Counseling


If women are provided education, counseling, and the opportunity to try new vaginal insertable products (like the dapivirine ring), they will show an increase in user acceptance and sustained interest over time.



Family Planning & STI Prevention


Women are likely to find greater value in vaginally administered products that provide both family planning and prevention of HIV/STIs.




Bleeding Across Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya



Key takeaways from our research:

How do changes in bleeding influence women’s acceptance of family planning and STI prevention products?      

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Nigeria

How do women budget for family planning and STI prevention products?

Where do women find trustworthy information?

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What types of support helps women successfully adopt and continue using vaginal insertable products?

How do partners influence women's choice of vaginal insertable products?

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What attributes are non-negotiable for family planning and STI prevention products?

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Senegal

How do form and material shape women’s acceptance of vaginal insertable products?

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How do women learn about family planning and STI prevention?



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Kenya    

What factors influence women’s decision to consider vaginal insertable products for menstrual health?

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How do women understand and evaluate their risk of contracting STIs?

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Access the Platform to dive deeper into our research outputs.


The Platform provides stakeholders with direct access to raw data alongside synthesized insights and media outputs.
Our interactive platform is built to support complex, mixed-methods research in a centralized, user-friendly space. It allows users to:  




Trace Insights

Follow threads from hypotheses to quotes to actionable recommendations



Search & Filter

Surface the most relevant findings fast with rich tagging and filters



Ask & Discover

Use the AI chatbot for natural-language Q&A that turns data into strategy







Hear our stories


Listen to women describe and learn how timely guidance, reassurance, and practical tools turn initial interest in vaginal insertable products into lasting use.