A travel influencer has revealed how she was stopped at the Senegal border for carrying a tampon in her bag and forced to do an impromptu demonstration.
Tara Katims, 25, was travelling from Gambia when bewildered border security personnel removed the item from her bag.
There was some confusion when officers asked him to explain what it was.
But luckily, the quick-thinking traveler managed to overcome the language barrier with a demonstration.
“They didn’t give me any suggestions as to what they thought it was, but after they pulled 10 out of my bag and told me ‘open it,’ I decided to take matters into my own hands and explain,” Katims said. Week of news.
Influencer Katims is a CTA Certified Travel Agent and full-time traveler (pictured on vacation in Costa Rica)
Despite the language barrier, he was able to explain the object through a physical demonstration.
She described the situation as “hilarious in every way” and later posted a TikTok about the incident.
In the video, CTA Certified Travel Agent Katims is seen pushing the tampon out before pointing to her crotch, prompting smiles and laughter from the border agent.
After an exhaustive search, she and her group were allowed to continue their journey.
“There are no X-rays, so I understand the caution,” Katims said.
The exchange sparked fun online, with other people sharing similar experiences.
“Hahaha, you don’t have to prove it,” one person said.
“This is really healthy lol. He looks like a good sport,” another added.
However, some took the opportunity to raise the issue of period poverty.
Influencer Tara Katims has revealed how she was stopped at the Senegalese border for carrying a tampon in her bag and forced to do an impromptu demonstration.
“I went on a medical trip to Guatemala and no one knew what a tampon was and most didn’t know about sanitary pads either,” one person said.
“The same thing happened to me in Dubai. They didn’t know what a tampon or a pad was.”
Menstrual poverty is “the inability to afford and access menstrual products, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and education and awareness to manage menstrual health,” according to the UN.
In Senegal, as in many parts of West Africa, menstruation is still considered a “taboo topic,” according to the nonprofit Speak Up Africa.
The organization says Senegalese women lose between 40 and 45 percent of their income during menstruation and 40 percent of girls between 9 and 17 years old miss school at least once a week during their period due to lack of resources to manage their period.
The problem has been observed worldwide, particularly in places like Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
But it is also a domestic problem, with one in four teenagers and one in three adults in the United States having difficulty affording menstrual products, according to UN data.
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