by Laura Darcey
Period poverty refers to the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products, education, facilities and proper sanitation during menstruation. Women and girls can’t afford or access basic menstrual products like pads, tampons, or menstrual cups, and many don’t have access to adequate sanitation or safe facilities to manage their periods hygienically. Rising inflation is perpetuating these issues. In 2020 a pack of seven to ten pads sold for an average of KSh50 in major Kenyan supermarkets. In 2023 they retail for KSh85[i].
The absence of proper resources places women and girls at significant risk, affecting their physical health and well-being, alongside their access to education.
An estimated 65% of women and girls in Kenya can’t afford the basic necessities to manage their menstruation, leading them to use alternatives such as rags, blankets, pieces of mattresses, tissue paper, cotton wool or chicken feathers[ii].
Also, fundamental to a dignified menstruation is access to hygiene resources. Yet many women do not have in-home plumbing and must use outdoor facilities – preventing access to clean water, to clean sanitation systems and increasing their chances of physical assault. Schools often compound this problem. Only an estimated 32% of rural schools have a private place to change their feminine hygiene products[iii].
Ultimately, poor menstrual hygiene can pose serious health risks, like reproductive and urinary tract infections which can lead to future infertility and birth complications[iv].
School attendance and social stigma
Period poverty has a serious impact on girls’ school attendance. In 2021, the Ministry of Education estimated that girls lose an average of four days of school each month due to their period which, over a full school year, translates to missing two months[v]. A study also found that 70% of female students reported menstruation as having a negative impact on their grades, and over 50% said it was forcing them to fall behind in school[vi].
Going to school while menstruating without adequate sanitary products puts girls at risk of severe teasing and taunting from male students and teachers. Girls are often afraid of leaks and soiling their uniform and will stay home, foregoing their education, to avoid the judgement. In 2019, a 14-year old Kenyan school girl took her own life after experiencing excessive period shaming and humiliation from a teacher who called her ‘dirty’ for staining her uniform[vii].
These challenges are exacerbated by a societal stigma surrounding menstruation in which discussing menstrual health remains taboo. A 2014 study by Alexander Kelly found only 50% of Kenyan women openly discuss menstruation at home and only 12% of girls were comfortable receiving menstrual information from their mothers[viii].
Sex for menstruation products and sexual violence
Covid-19 caused huge disruptions to Kenyan life, exacerbating existing financial hardships, and cutting girls off from resources upon which they previously relied.
After schools closed in March 2020, access to basic hygiene requirements such as water, soap, and menstrual products diminished even further than prior levels. This created a ‘shadow pandemic’ where Kenyan girls were preyed on by older men with spare cash, and exchanged sex for money to buy period products. By 2021, 10% of 15-year old girls had traded sex for period products. In addition, within the first three months of lockdown more than 152,000 girls became pregnant in Kenya[ix].
Girls who are out of school are more likely to get pregnant and more likely to be victims of sexual assault[x]. Teen motherhood is rife with issues in any culture and in Kenya, if a student has a child, it is difficult for them to continue with their education. Formula and child care are expensive, and it is almost impossible to attend school as a nursing mother[xi].
Sexual violence is also prevalent where there is a lack of access to adequate hygiene facilities. Women often won’t visit toilets at night as they do not view them as safe spaces. In Kenyan informal settlements, the majority of sexual violence occurs within the context of using a toilet, bathing or managing menstrual hygiene[xii].
Providing women and girls with reusable menstrual pads has been seen as an important solution for period poverty, but these products only work for girls and women who have access to clean water and a private and safe environment in which to manage their menstruation.
Faltering Progress
In 2004 Kenya repealed its VAT on pads and tampons to lower the price consumers paid for products, and in 2016 the government went even further, removing tax on the raw materials used to manufacture sanitary pads. But despite these reforms, menstrual products remain squarely out of reach for many, and some tax cuts have benefited retailers and manufactures more than consumers. ALWAYS – the product dominating the Kenyan pads market – didn’t change the price of its product following the removal of VAT, instead absorbing the tax cuts into their product margins[xiii].
In 2017 the government made the commitment to “provide free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution who has reached puberty and provide a safe and environmentally sound mechanism for disposal of the sanitary towels”[xiv].
But budgetary allocations have not been enough to sustain this ambitious policy. In the 2012/13 financial year, Sh300 million was set aside for the programme, but this had fallen to Sh260 million by 2018/19 despite rising inflation. The programme has also been hit with integrity queries over payments, as well as concerns of corruption[xv].
In addition to inadequate funding, menstrual products have not been reaching the girls who need them the most. There is no process used to track the distribution of pads and female teachers have been known to steal the pads for themselves. Male teachers are often in charge of distributing the pads, which girls find humiliating[xvi].
Support from NTS
NTS believes that all students should be able to confidently attend school and therefore ensure that period poverty is a thing of the past for our female students.
NTS works with our partner, AFRIpads, who provide reusable sanitary products, discrete ways of carrying the products, and culturally-relevant training and education to both educators and students about sexual health and menstruation. Upon beginning their education with NTS, students are given 2 pairs of underwear, reusable pads (1 heavy, 1 light, and 3 for day time) and a carrying kit that keeps dirty and clean pads separate. NTS also has extra uniforms for female students so if anyone has an accident, it can be dealt with quickly and discreetly.
We also teach female students about their reproductive cycle and how to avoid pregnancy, how to embrace their bodies without fear, and when to seek medical help. NTS offers basic health and reproductive education to all of our students. In the future NTS hopes to expand to provide more in-depth education about their bodies and reproductive systems, including consent, STIs, HIV, birth control, and family planning.
School toilets are modern and have separate entrances that are not close to each other. In addition, they are monitored at breaks by the NTS security guard, further ensuring safety. During classes, students do not use toilets unless there is an emergency. In this way, safety is further assured for all students.
At NTS, female students are able to independently manage their period and can confidently attend school while menstruating. As a result, their performance at school, and on their NITA exams, is on a par with their male peers. At NTS, period poverty is a thing of the past.
References
[i] Nation, Menstrual Health: Breaking the silence on menstrual struggle, https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/menstrual-health-breaking-the-silence-on-menstrual-struggle-4247566
[ii] Buckner, What is period poverty and why should people care?, https://www.buckner.org/kenya/blog/what-is-period-poverty-and-why-should-people-care/#:~:text=65%25%20of%20females%20in%20Kenya,access%20to%20feminine%20hygiene%20products
[iii] Buckner, A Kenyan female’s perspective on period poverty, https://www.buckner.org/blog/a-kenyan-females-perspective-on-period-poverty-world-health-day/
[iv] WHO, Menstrual Health and Hygiene, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/brief/menstrual-health-and-hygiene
[v] Aljazeera, ‘I wish I was a boy’: The Kenyan girls fighting period poverty, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/2/24/i-wish-i-was-a-boy-the-kenyan-girls-fighting-period-poverty
[vi] BBC News, Period poverty: African women priced out of buying sanitary pads, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66423981
[vii] Catalyst, A look at the impact of period poverty on girls in Kenya, https://catalystmcgill.com/a-look-at-the-impact-of-period-poverty-and-period-shame-on-girls-in-kenya/
[viii] UNFPA Kenya, Period poverty: the weak link in ending gender based violence, https://kenya.unfpa.org/en/news/period-poverty-weak-link-ending-gender-based-violence-dr-olajide-unfpa-representative-ms-mbugua
[ix] Catalyst
[x] Munala, The impact of covid-19 on girls from low income urban and rural areas in Kenya, https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1594640/v1/ea2df3c4-cf2f-4410-898c-be61066a25ff.pdf?c=1652561510
[xi] Otieno Onyango, Challenges of school re-entry among teenage mothers in primary schools in Muhoroni district, https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/challenges-school-re-entry-among-teenage-mothers-primary-schools-muhoroni
[xii] Abrahams, Intersections of sanitation, sexual coercion and girls’ safety in schools, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2006.01600.x
[xiii] Reuters, How the fight against the tampon tax failed to fix period poverty, https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N34I248/
>[xiv] Borgen, Addressing period poverty in Kenya keeps girls in school, https://www.borgenmagazine.com/period-poverty-in-kenya/
[xv] Nation
[xvi] NPR, What Kenya can teach the US about menstrual pads, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/05/10/476741805/what-kenya-can-teach-the-u-s-about-menstrual-pads