“If it works in humans, such a gel would be particularly useful in countries where women have little protection against domestic violence or rape,” Walid Heneine, lead researcher at the National Centre for Infectious Disease of the Centers for Disease Control, was quoted as saying in a New York Times report.
Women can apply it surreptitiously after a partner falls asleep or a clinic could administer it after a rape, the researchers noted.
But if the technique does move into human trials, scientists added, it is more likely that women would be asked to try to use it both before and after sex.
