{"id":227470,"date":"2023-11-30T13:25:29","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T18:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/?p=227470"},"modified":"2024-06-30T08:40:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T12:40:42","slug":"period-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/period-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"Period Poverty Is An Urgent Public Health And Human Rights Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/strong><\/big>hy does period poverty matter? Or has it ever occurred to you why period poverty matters? If you were to ask me why it matters, I would say period poverty has different forms like any other kind of poverty, and it can lead to emotional, physical, and mental effects on individuals. Almost half of the world\u2019s population menstruates. <\/p>\n

But period poverty has not been given the urgency it deserves compared to other public health issues like HIV, Ebola, and malaria. Period poverty is an equally important public health issue because lack of information and access to menstrual products negatively impacts women and girls, harming their mental well-being and self-esteem, and even leading to thoughts of self-harm.<\/p>\n

Did you know that some women say they wish they were born a different sex to save them from menstruating?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Growing up in a patriarchal family with five brothers and a shy mother added to the challenges I faced. My mother lacked knowledge about the menarche stage and how to provide support, making it difficult for me to express myself. Society’s perception that menstruation is solely a girl’s responsibility further limited my ability to seek help during my period.<\/p>\n

Menstruation is a gendered, cross-cutting issue. It affects half of the global population. In Tanzania alone, it impacts up to 19 million women and girls. Factors such as socioeconomic status, culture, social support, and access to necessary resources (like water, soap, bathroom facilities, period products, and pain medications) affect how people experience menstruation. For rural, marginalized, and low-income communities, periods make existing issues worse.<\/p>\n

Adults in Tanzania report spending approximately $1.85 per period for disposable pads, which is unaffordable to most, according to 2017 Femme International research<\/a>. Many women and girls, especially in rural areas, turn to unhygienic alternatives<\/a> from fabrics to mattress stuffing, dried grass, or cow dung wrapped in gauze. This cost remains similar even in urban areas, where the availability of commercial products becomes an additional burden. In sub-Saharan Africa, the period issue is so acute, it affects girls’ ability to get an education. A UNESCO report<\/a> estimates that one in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their menstrual cycle.<\/p>\n

In Haley Johnson\u2019s article<\/a> on understanding and debunking menstrual taboo in India, she wrote: \u201cThere are many taboos surrounding menstruation not only in India but worldwide, and these taboos prevent women\/girls from following their normal routine, and it is even taboo to discuss menstruation because \u2018to do so may bring shame or dirty\u2019 which further leads to lack of information and understanding. Clearly, this lack of information creates a lack of proper menstrual management which has a long-lasting physical and mental impact on girls and women.\u201d <\/p>\n

There is so much that resonates from the article with the situation in East Africa in terms of how the issue has been perceived. This alludes to the separation of the issues by gender, which causes physical and mental challenges for women and girls. There is unfair treatment toward girls, especially those who are of menarche age, combined with poor knowledge of self-hygiene when menstruating, harassment, and bullying from peers. These are some of the most prevalent ways that menstruation affects a girl\u2019s self-esteem.<\/p>\n

It is humiliating to be teased just because you are bleeding or because of something so natural and biological that is totally out of your control.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Haley Johnson\u2019s article, \u201cthere is also a number of women\/girls evidently complaining about how most of the menstruation physical symptoms like severe cramps and other period abnormalities aren\u2019t taken seriously by either family members or even health professionals.\u201d She went on to say, \u201cEssentially menstruating women in India are treated like they have some sort of plague, and they are reduced to outcasts even while they are in their own home.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here are some significant reasons why addressing period poverty is urgently needed:<\/p>\n