A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not solid food. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are named dry hunger strikers.
Residents of Dobrzeń Wielki, Poland, in 2017, protesting the planned incorporation of their community to the city of Opole
A 1911 headline in Votes for Women about William Ball being force-fed in prison to end his hunger strike
Clipping from World Magazine, September 6, 1914.
Irish Hunger Strikers Memorial Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term gavage refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose (nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into the stomach.
A suffragette is force-fed in HM Prison Holloway in the UK during hunger strikes for women's suffrage, approximately 1911.
Clipping from World Magazine, September 6, 1914
1911 Votes for Women poster about William Ball (suffragist)
Guantanamo captives who will not comply with force-feeding have their arms, legs and head restrained in a feeding chair. They remain strapped in the chair until the nutrient is digested, to prevent induced vomiting.
