Togolese women plan sex strike to unseat President Faure Gnassingbe

Today marks the beginning of a week-long sex strike for the women of Togo.

The women of the civil rights group “Let’s Save Togo,” called for the strike during a rally on Sunday in an effort to obtain the resignation of the country's president, Faure Gnassingbe. 

According to the AFP, Let's Save Togo is "an umbrella organization of nine civil society groups and seven opposition parties and movements."

Isabelle Ameganvi, leader of the group’s women’s wing, told the Associated Press that the women plan to withhold sex from their husbands for a week to "urge Togo’s men to take action against Gnassingbe."

Ameganvi added, “We have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in Togo. If men refuse to hear our cries we will hold other demos that will be more powerful than a sex strike."

The rally was also to protest against recent electoral reforms, which according to the BBC, "demonstrators say will make it easier for Gnassingbe's party to win re-election in the parliamentary polls set for October."

Ameganvi's sex strike has drawn some criticism due to her own personal life. Ameganvi is not married, making a week-long sex strike much easier. 

One Togolese journalist, Ekoue Blame, told Reuters, "It is easy for her to say because she is not married herself. She does not live with a man at home. Does she think women who live with their husband will be able to observe that? By the way, who controls what couples do behind closed doors?" 

According to the BBC, Gnassingbe's family has held power in Togo for decades. President Gnassingbe himself took power in 2005 after his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, died. He had ruled Togo for 38 years.