When the women of the small African country of Togo want something, they truly take one for the team: in order to urge the president of Togo to resign, the women are holding a sex strike. A civil rights group called Let’s Save Togo is encouraging women to withhold sex from their husbands for one week in hopes it will push men to oust the current president. (At least one man already has suggested a shorter time period — two days — instead.) I confess to not understanding much about the culture of Togo but it seems that even withholding sex as part of a political protest might not be easy for wives: One woman told the AP it will be “easy for me to observe it” but she is “not sure” her husband would “accept” the strike; another woman told the AP that “I know my husband will not let me complete it … He likes that too much.” Sex strikes have had successes before, however: The leader of the women’s wing of Let’s Save Togo said the group is taking their cue from Liberian women, whose 2003 sex strike helped bring peace to the country. And of course there is the famous Greek play “Lysistrata.” Good luck, ladies. [San Francisco State]
