Saturday is traditionally the day for protests in Togo. It had to become a sort of ritual, because citizens have been challenging the presidential Gnassingbe dynasty for about 40 years now – obviously without much success. But things might change starting today.

Taking inspiration from a similar women’s protest for peace held in 2003 in Liberia, the leader of the female wing of the Let’s save Togo group Isabelle Ameganvi called for a national sex strike planned to last for one week. The idea is to force the complacent Togolese men to take into consideration the issues raised by their wives, and act once and for all against the much unloved head of state.

Media worldwide have reported the news with amusement and skepticism, mirroring the reactions within the protestors themselves. The most unwittingly funny was from Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the rather ineffective National Alliance for Change. «One week sex strike is too much» he said. «Let’s go for only two days».