Celebrities back tampon rebels of Zimbabwe

The Sunday Times ^ | May 7, 2006 | Christina Lamb

[MadIvan]

SHE has been arrested 22 times, tortured so badly that her front teeth were knocked into her nose and had an AK-47 thrust up her vagina until she bled. Thabitha Khumalo’s crime: to campaign against a critical shortage of tampons and sanitary towels in Zimbabwe, one of the least talked about and most severe side-effects for women of the country’s economic crisis.

Now her cause has been taken up in Britain by celebrities including the actors Anna Chancellor, Gillian Anderson, Prunella Scales and Jeremy Irons.

Later this month they will launch “Dignity. Period!”, a fundraising campaign to buy sanitary products for Zimbabwe’s women. It will start with a night of entertainment at the 20th Century theatre in Notting Hill, west London, hosted by Stephen Fry.

So desperate is the situation that women are being forced to use rolled-up pieces of newspaper. Zimbabwe already has the world’s lowest life expectancy for women — 34 — and Khumalo believes these unhygienic practices could make it drop to as low as 20 because infections will make them more vulnerable to HIV. “It’s a time bomb,” she said. The shortage is forcing schoolgirls to stay at home when they start menstruating.

The crisis began in 1999 when Johnson & Johnson, the healthcare manufacturer, pulled out of the country because of the worsening economic situation. Zimbabwe then had to import products from neighbouring South Africa. But the collapse of the currency and the world’s highest inflation, now more than 1,000%, have made the products unaffordable to all but the elite.

In a country where the minimum wage is Z$6m (£17.14) a month, the cost of a box of 20 tampons is Z$3m. “Who in their right mind is going to spend half their earnings on tampons?” asked Khumalo. “As it is most people can only afford to eat once a day. Women are being forced to choose between their own health and the survival of their family.”

Khumalo, 45, general secretary of the Women’s Advisory Council of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, and a mother of two, started her campaign after she saw a woman walking awkwardly on the street: “She told me she was going home from work because she had her period and could no longer afford sanitary protection or cotton wool.”

When an MP raised the issue in parliament, government ministers fell about laughing and dismissed the matter. Khumalo has tried to highlight it through public meetings and distributing scarves printed with demands for affordable sanitary wear. As a result she has been repeatedly arrested and beaten, but refuses to be deterred.

[MadIvan]

Zimbabwe, where cruelty and absurdity go hand in hand.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Ping!

[modest proposal]

god thats terrible

to tell you the truth i woulda just shut up about the tampons rather than get tortured about it. less painful bleeding

[SlowBoat407]

Ah, another "benefit" of driving out the evil Europeans. The joy-joy times in Zimbabwe just keep on rollin' ever since the bad ol' white man was driven out.

[Minutemen]

with all due respect, what did women in the 3rd world do before Johnson & Johnson invented the "tampon"?

[This Just In]

I am one who enjoys light hearted just, but this image is callous, considering the suffering and humiliation involved.

One thing is not clear to me regarding the article, which fails to explain exactly why Thabitha Khumalo has been treated in such an inhuman way other than the fact that she is speaking publicly about their crisis.

Does this expose government corruption? Is it against their country's law or traditions for a female to speak of such things publicly?

My prayers to those individuals.

[This Just In]

I asked that same question.

[modest proposal]

its amazing the things we can do so easily in america that people in other countries cannot.

makes my skin crawl to think about being completely controlled by idiots in power

[LeoWindhorse]

at what point is that ape Mugabe going to dragged out into the streets and strung up from meat hooks like Mussolini ?
Actually better than he deserves.

[Anti-Bubba182]

The only thing that will cure Zimbabwe's problems is military intervention and a new goverment. Zimbabwe has no oil. It won't happen.

[winner3000]

This is what happens when the eeevil pharmaceutical companies are forced to pull out.

[A message]

Yes on your first point.

makes my skin crawl to think about being completely controlled by idiots in power

That's why in the end we vote against Democrats.

[AnnaZ]

Poor, poor woman. Poor, poor women. What a horrible hideous country. One of, unfortunately, too many.

[modest proposal]

yes the evil western world; manufacturers of absorbent hygenic products

[AnnaZ]

“She told me she was going home from work because she had her period and could no longer afford sanitary protection or cotton wool.”

[Fairview]

what did women in the 3rd world do before Johnson & Johnson invented the "tampon"?

I don't know what they did in Africa, but in this country they used old rags torn up and wrapped up in a piece of cotton cloth. This construction was then pinned inside their drawers, and washed when it was saturated. Not very pleasant, comfortable, fragrant, or hygienic.

[This Just In]

If that makes your skin crawl, as it should, I would suggest that we, as a country, could very easily travel down that road if we're apathetic and complacent in our view of government, policies, and powerful political leaders and what they stand for.

Cuba's a good example. What had been a thriving country is now an island where the average citizen lives in poverty.

I thank God for America, and so do the Cubans that are fortunate enough to escape and live here.

[neodad]

When I was on active duty and we visited foreign ports, one of the most popular items that the chaplain and volunteers took to schools and orphanages were tampons, pads, etc. Never really understood why, but I guess this story helps explain it.

[modest proposal]

I guess you do what you do to get by.

The american indians had huts the women went into and stayed while they had their period.

personally I don't use tampons anyway...well very rarely. So I am sitting here wondering why women would roll up newspapers rather than just line their britches with newspapers.

the former sounds awful

[Rastus]

I am one who enjoys light hearted just, but this image is callous, considering the suffering and humiliation involved.

If you are referring to the image from Dune above Ivan's name, I assure you he is not posting it as some form of comical commentary. It appears above his name in every thread he posts, sort of like a signature or a tagline.