Hotmilk Lingerie assisted former Zimbabwean Morag Roy in an effort to lower the rate of sexual abuse amongst young women living in villages in Zimbabwe by sending close to 12,000 Hotmilk items.
Roy discovered that sexual abuse of young girls was rampant in Zimbabwe and asked a priest what the girls needed most to prevent this happening. “He told me that underwear gives a woman prestige, shows that they have money and means men are less likely to assault them,” said Roy.
“I was amazed but when I flew back six months later with suitcases stuffed with bras I saw first-hand what a difference it made.”During the trip, Roy also found that most of the young girls and mothers there only had one ragged pair of knickers each, so often wore none. “They also desperately need knickers, but I guess a Catholic priest wouldn’t have thought about mentioning that!” said Roy.
Hotmilk learnt of the cause and were determined to lend a hand. “Sometimes we can take a lot for granted, from the roofs over heads right down to the fact we own underwear,” says Hotmilk co-owner and co-designer Ange Crosbie.
“When we heard that something as simple as undergarments had the possibility of giving young women in Zimbabwe a better chance to live a life free of sexual abuse, we knew that we wanted to help."
Morag had done such a great job in gathering thousands of bras for her cause and we were delighted to donate close to 12,000 Hotmilk items. We also orgnised Hotmilk stockists across the globe to gather quality secondhand bras and unworn underwear to ship to Africa.
Most of the bras were given out in Samkele, Lupane and Bulawayo areas. The women love them and there is always great excitement and joy when they are received.
