Blog 1: Togo women call sex strike against President Gnassingbe

 T­o get their voices heard, the distressed women of Tongo are holding a Sex strike in opposition to President Faure Gnassingbe’s rule. Gnassingbe’s family has been in power for more than four decades and he was named president in 2005 after the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyademe, who had ruled for 38 years. Nine civil society groups and seven opposition parties and movements make up the Let’s Save Congo opposition coalition. Demonstrators say that the new electoral reforms will allow Mr. Gnassingbe’s party to more easily attain reelection in the upcoming parliamentary polls in October. The coalition feels it is time for the president to stand down.  The sex strike, led by head of the women’s wing of the coalition Isabelle Ameganvi, was declared in front of thousands of people at a rally in the capital Lome. She had been encouraged by a Liberian women’s strike in 2003 that campaigned for peace by depriving their men of the same thing. Ameganvi said that sex could be used to achieve political change if used as a “weapon of the battle”. "We have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in Togo," declared Ms. Ameganvi, “and if men refuse to hear our cries we will hold another demonstration that will be more powerful than a sex strike," she added.

As I was reading through the article, I came across a quote from a mother who said that "it's a good thing for us women to observe this sex strike as long as our children are in jail now. I believe that by observing this, we will get them released." This touched me, because the women aren’t just rallying for their rights to voice their feelings towards certain things, but they are fighting for their kid’s lives. I think that the strike in general is a really good idea, especially in a country where the female population are not given the chance to be opinionated. I am rooting for the women standing up to their husbands despite whatever consequences that might arise. "For me, it's like fasting, and unless you fast, you will not get what you want from God,” Abla Tamekloe told the news press. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19389625