Given that tampons have been around in their modern form since the 1930s, it’s quite stunning to realise that an adult woman working in a buzzing capital city has been successfully shielded from a product so many consider indispensable. It was such an alien concept to her that she put all of Read’s through the airport scanner by themselves.

Why? Read explains in her BBC News article that in Egypt, menstruation is known as “ma'ib”, which roughly translates to "shameful". Tampons are not offered as an option to girls and women because of the chance they will “break” the hymen of those who have not had sex – a problem for those who believe the myth that penetration determines virginity, in a country where it is highly prized.

Woman stopped at airport security in Egypt has to explain what a tampon is