When her monthly period comes, 16 year old Jane tears a pillow and picks out pieces of its worn stuffing- an old cloth rug that she uses in place of the sanitary pad she cannot afford. That is just the tip of the iceberg. The worst part is that Jane, has to do menial jobs to enable her to afford sanitary towels.
That has made her and other girls vulnerable to men who want to take advantage of her and other girls to sleep with her for exchange of sanitary towels.
Despite being a normal biological process, menstruation remains “taboo”; Many girls stay home from school during their periods, leaving them behind in their education. In class, girls say that their concern about leakages makes it harder for them to concentrate in class or dissuade them from participating in the first place. Even with sanitary pads or towels, Jane says that finding a bathroom is an issue.
Despite being a normal biological process, menstruation remains "taboo"
“Without safe, private places for cleaning and changing during our periods, we continue to struggle
despite the supplies,” she says.
Girls and women in low-income communities face many challenges when it comes to menstruation, and we refer to these challenges as period poverty. Period poverty means lack of access to period products such as pads, tampons, underwear and pain medication.
Period poverty is not only a woman’s health issue; it is a human rights issue affecting girls’ and women’s
safety, education for girls, economic equality and mental health. When people have inadequate access
to safe hygiene facilities and other means of managing their menstrual hygiene, their dignity is not honored.
Girls living in poverty often miss school while on their period. When a girl doesn’t have feminine hygiene care products and her school doesn’t have a toilet or safe facilities for managing menstrual hygiene, it makes it nearly impossible to attend class while menstruating.
Period poverty makes the vulnerabilities even worse, pushing low-income women and girls into behavior harmful to their well-being.
Difficulty affording menstrual products puts an added strain on families, especially those who already struggle to afford enough food, safe water, medicine and other essentials.
Everyday, hundreds of millions of girls and women between ages 15 and 49 are menstruating. And yet, in some cultures, menstruation is stigmatized, shrouded in silence, secrecy and shame. Silence, stigmas and taboos around menstruation directly affect a girl’s dignity, confidence and self-esteem. Because of taboos around menstruation, girls are often told they can’t do certain things while on their period.
Gender inequality in the form of period poverty needs to come to an immediate end, and there’s a lot we can all do to help work towards that reality.
To end embarrassment and shame around periods and to fight period poverty, men and boys must also recognize they play a part. 42 per cent of women say they have been period shamed by men. 60 per cent of women say they still feel embarrassed when they menstruate due to in large part to pervasive taboos and the attitudes of men.
Important and open discussions about periods need to be held in the public sphere in order to raise awareness. It takes both women and men to make that happen.
How can you help?