In Asia and Latin America, two of the most populous parts of the world, only 3 percent of all women use tampons.
Tampons and other menstrual products continue to be controversial. The [London] Times Online ran a story on May 7, 2006 entitled "Celebrities Back Tampon Rebels of Zimbabwe," which tells of Thabitha Khumalo, who "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."
Her crime? Protesting the critical shortage of tampons and pads in Zimbabwe.
When economic problems there caused tampon maker Johnson & Johnson to leave, the price of tampons skyrocketed. A box of twenty currently costs about $16 U.S. in a country where the minimum monthly wage is $32. The article's author, Christina Lamb, tells us:
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
Tampons and other menstrual products continue to be controversial. The [London] Times Online ran a story on May 7, 2006 entitled "Celebrities Back Tampon Rebels of Zimbabwe," which tells of Thabitha Khumalo, who "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."
Her crime? Protesting the critical shortage of tampons and pads in Zimbabwe.
When economic problems there caused tampon maker Johnson & Johnson to leave, the price of tampons skyrocketed. A box of twenty currently costs about $16 U.S. in a country where the minimum monthly wage is $32. The article's author, Christina Lamb, tells us:
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