Operation Haute Protection

The campaign involves large billboards that aim to create shame, particularly for older men, around relationships between older men and young girls. The billboards feature a picture of an older man, probably in his 40s, and the message - "what would you do if this man was sleeping with your daughter? So why are you sleeping with his daughter?"

According to PSI, the campaign has created a great deal of controversy, with organisers receiving angry phone calls from men who say that the campaign was spoiling the market, that they did not know what this campaign was meaning to do, but that every time they see it they feel ashamed. On the other hand, they have also received feedback from young people saying that they feel relieved to know that they are not alone.

The campaign, which also involves the military, runs workshops for military wives' clubs. According to the organisers, women are becoming more empowered through the workshops. In the past, women's way of dealing with their husbands' infidelity was to reject it. Now, they accept the infidelity as inevitable, but they are trying to make sure that the family is protected by ensuring that their husbands use condoms.

HIV and AIDS

Organisers say that because polygamy is expected - and, in fact, legal - in Togo, HIV prevention strategies that focus on fidelity and faithfulness can be challenging. In addition, relationships between older men and teenage girls is a real problem, especially when considering the fact that neither party necessarily recognises the risk of HIV transmission. Organisers say that men assume the girls are too young to have sexual experience, and the girls believe the men are respectable and healthy.