By Diana Njuguna | Head of Programs
It's Time For Action- End Period Poverty!
The World Bank estimates that at least 500 million women and girls globally experience period poverty, meaning they lack access to menstrual hygiene products. This directly impacts their ability to access education, physical and reproductive health, and mental well-being. To address this, we are on a mission to eliminate period poverty by establishing period banks in four partner schools across Kenya's Kilifi, Kwale, Turkana, and Samburu counties. These banks will provide menstrual hygiene products and educational resources to 850 girls and young women for one year. The banks will also be a safe haven for girls to access menstrual hygiene information.
Over the past few months, our primary focus has been raising awareness of period poverty and stigma in Kenya and highlighting the lived experiences of girls and young women.One of the critical aspects of our campaign has been to emphasize the latest data on period poverty and its impact on girls' access to education. For example,in Kenya, girls miss school at an average of four school days per year due to menstruation, resulting in two weeks of missed learning each term and 165 lost learning days over four years of high school.In addition to this, our campaigns have also shed light on other contributing factors to period poverty. We have highlighted how high inflation rates in Kenya make it difficult for girls to access menstrual hygiene products and how girls and women are often silenced when advocating for menstrual health and hygiene.
Through different digital advocacy campaigns we have created awareness on this issue. Over 5,200 reach on social media and over 3,00o reach on our newsletters (De-stigmatizing Menstruation & Join the effort to end period poverty)
Here are Girls' voices on ending period poverty!
“We should normalize conversations about periods; include adolescent girls in these conversations and tell them that periods are normal and also include boys and men in these conversations so that we can end period shame” ~Lavender
“Workplaces should have menstrual leave days for female employees. Many feminist organizations have them, but mainstream corporate organizations should also embrace them”~Kwame
“Women in STEM careers are marginalized because their companies value output over well-being. We should lobby for these organizations to provide a conducive environment for women to work,” ~Claris
“Women are stigmatized in the recruitment process because they have periods; women should have equal representation in the workplace,” ~Candy
“Every woman should have access to sanitary towels for free. The prices of sanitary pads are high and are projected to increase. Governments should subsidize sanitary towels for women and girls in Kenya,” ~Warindi
“As women, we should not perpetuate period shame by hiding ourselves or hiding sanitary towels, we should be ready to speak about it and be comfortable in our own bodies,” ~Joan
Furthermore, we are excited to host our annual Wasichana Wa Afrika Summit 2023, where we will engage with African girl leaders on menstrual health and period shaming. This summit will provide them, along with girl allies, an opportunity to come up with innovative solutions to the issues raised, ensuring that African girl leaders remain unstoppable.The theme for this year which was co-created by girls is ‘No More Limits, Period!’
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