Togo women on sex strike

Posted on August 27, 2012

Togo women on sex strike

Women in Togo have begun a week-long sex strike to demand the resignation of President Faure Gnassingbe.

Women leader Isabelle Ameganvi said that sex could be a "weapon of the battle" to achieve political change.

What women want
She said she had been inspired by a similar strike by Liberian women in 2003, who used a sex strike to campaign for peace.

"If men refuse to hear our cries we will hold another demonstration that will be more powerful than a sex strike. We have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in Togo,” she explains.

The sex strike was led by opposition coalition ‘Let's Save Togo,’ made up of nine civil society groups and seven opposition parties and movements.

"It's a good thing for us women to observe this sex strike as long as our children are in jail now. For me, it's like fasting, and unless you fast, you will not get what you want from God,” a participant Abla Tamekloe said.

Fear for re-election
The women fear that recent electoral reforms will make it easier for President Gnassingbe's party to win re-election in the parliamentary polls set for October.

The coalition wants President Faure Gnassingbe, whose family has held power for decades, to stand down.

President Faure Gnassingbe took power in 2005 following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled Togo for 38 years.

Earlier this month, two anti-Gnassingbe protests were dispersed by police and more than 100 people were arrested.

BBC/Ibisaki/Yinka