by Megha Rana
Menstruation is a natural process that occurs monthly for all people with a uterus. Most will first get their period between the ages of 10 to 15, and will menstruate, on average, for 40 years. For some, menstruation is a celebration of a young woman in the making, but for others it is the beginning of a life-long struggle with period poverty, or the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education
At any one time, more than 800 million women across the globe are menstruating. Despite this, periods are often drowned in secrecy, shame, and silence. Not having the basics to make menstruation manageable, such as clean menstrual products, , people to talk to, or even the dignity of privacy, has led to global health issue. Many women, especially those across Africa and Asia, struggle with period poverty.
According to a 2017 Time Magazine article, “when a girl misses school because of her period, cumulatively, that puts her behind her male classmates by 145 days.”
The outcomes of period poverty in Africa include:
- Girls missing one or more school days – 1 in 10 girls in Africa do not go to school during their menstruation period because of a lack of access to menstrual products and/or because there are no safe and private toilets to use at school.
- Lack of access to clean menstrual products – 50% of school-aged girls in Kenya do not have access to menstrual products nor can they afford them. Transactional sex in in exchange for menstrual products is also widely reported.
- A feeling of shame and fear towards one’s period – Sociocultural norms, and taboos often lead women and girls to fear others “discovering” their soiled period products. Girls may even burn evidence of their periods as a way to remove traces of their menstrual blood, for fear of shame, bullying, or even violence against them.
(Statistics according to Action Aid and Down to Earth.)
Menstrual health hygiene remains an issue layered with negative perceptions and limited understanding due to the taboo and stigma behind it in communities across Africa. However, a concrete understanding of how to manage menstruation is vital. There are many efforts that can provide sustaining and successful solutions: a good education on menstruation, addressing stigma/shame, healthy menstrual health management, supply distribution, as well as eliminating tax on menstrual products. This spring, NTS will begin providing reusable pads to our female students. We will also begin a reproductive health program. Our goal: No NTS will ever again miss school again because of her period.
Together, we can overcome period poverty and create period equity for all.