When sanitary products are unavailable...women die...

Give the Women of Zimbabwe Back Their Dignity.Period!

The average salary for a Zimbabwean woman is £20 a month with sanitary products costing on average £9 for a month. Unemployment is currently 75%.

"Ordinary women cannot afford sanitary wear, we are using old pieces of cloth or newspapers. Consequently, we're suffering the loss of our dignity and serious infections, in some cases leading to infertility. Many women are facing violence from their husbands who believe these infections to be sexually transmitted" says Thabitha Khumalo, trade union activist and women's campaigner. 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.

Khumalo has begun a campaign, donate here: Send your donation to Action for Southern Africa by either sending cheques payable to ACTSA with sanitary appeal written on the back of the cheque or call ACTSA on 0207 833 3133. Alternatively, please click here to make a secure online donation.

And also: Listen to Thabitha Khumalo on BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour.