A hunger strike, such as Giel from Eindhoven who wants to start on Monday, requires a lot from body and mind. According to experts, it is heavy, dangerous and can cause permanent damage. But if you keep it up, it can be a very effective means to get your goals or action done. What are the dangers and opportunities for Giel’s strike?
“With a hunger strike you show pure despair,” says internist Fransje Snijders, expert in the field of hunger strikes. According to Snijders, success mainly depends on perseverance. Whoever stops loses quickly. Drinking is essential: without water you will not be able to do it for more than a month without food. Vitamins can partly prevent damage.
“The media attention that often follows contributes to effectiveness,” she says. “Moreover, the striker can put pressure on politicians. Nobody wants someone to die because of sitting still.”
Health risks
Snijders hopes that the hunger strikers are always aware of the medical consequences. She remembers Turkish strikers who later received serious dementia due to a vitamin deficiency during the strike. “The body mainly makes fat and reserves in the first few days, then it starts on muscles and organs to extract energy. The problem is that the heart is also a muscle, with low blood pressure, cold, loss of concentration and ultimately even death as a result.”
Climate mayor Giel from Eindhoven is going in a hunger strike this week to draw attention to trees. He will eat again when he has raised 25,000 euros to plant trees in places where needed. There were praising words on this promotion, but also a lot of criticism. “It is Nobel that he is committed to the trees, but in a time of hunger and war it may feel strange as an activity. He could have tied to a tree,” says Snijders, without wanting to judge Giel’s action.
She emphasizes that a hunger strike is only powerful as the last resort. “You play with your health. Do it only if your goal is very important.” It must be clear who is held responsible. “If you do it towards someone who is insensitive to human suffering, such as Putin, it makes no sense.”
Saturated
Hunger strikes often get more media attention than other forms of protest. The more extreme the promotion, the greater the chance of news. Snijders mentions the example of a Vietnamese monk who set herself on fire. “But,” she warns, “there can be hungry striking fatigue. Like any form of protest: in the beginning it is powerful, but if a lot of people quickly grab hunger strike as an action tool, the effect quickly decreases.”