Keep Girls In School: PERIOD!

Menstruation! Period! Menses! Red flag! Blood! Awww stop Ruthie! I know a lot of people will cringe at the thought and sound of these words. Hello! Can I talk to you? Because it’s about time we talk about those issues that are stigmatized in the society but that are critical life and developmental issues and should command a great deal of attention from the state, policy makers, activists etc.

Today the 28^th of May is the World Menstrual Hygiene Day- a day set aside to increase the awareness of menstrual hygiene management and to break the culture of silence and shame surrounding it. But first, what is menstruation? It is a natural process involving the discharge of blood for some days from the lining of the uterus of a woman/adolescent girl at a certain time of the month from puberty up to the time of menopause. Menstruation hardly occurs during pregnancies however there have been unusual cases where it does during the first trimester. Without menstruation, there is no life as its presence is associated with conception and womanhood. As important as this is, it is often stigmatized around certain parts of the world. Until recently, I avoided buying sanitary pads in shops around my house for the sole reason that the seller may either be counting my days or closely observing me anytime I pass by. Plan International USA (2015) shares some ways periods are stigmatized in some countries of the world:

·        In Nepal, Hindu women don’t cook or worship and stay away from their families—their touch is considered impure during menstruation.

·        In India, some women are restricted from daily activities such as taking a bath, changing clothes, cooking food, combing hair, and entering holy places.

·        Also in India, some in Gujjar communities believe that it is forbidden to look at your reflection during menstruation. Some Gujjar girls believe that they should not bathe and must stay away from flowing water.

·        In South Africa amongst the Zulu people, a menstruating woman is thought to be poisonous and may kill animals and crops if she comes near them.

·        In Tanzania, some believe if another sees a menstrual cloth, its owner will be cursed.

·        In Nigeria, misinformed adolescent girls regard it as bad blood

·        In Bangladesh, women bury their menstrual cloths so they won’t attract evil spirits.

·        Some western Ugandans believe menstruating women and girls are not allowed to drink cow’s milk.

·        In Sierra Leone, some believe used sanitary napkins can be used to make someone sterile.

·        In some areas of Zambia, restrictions include not cooking, not adding salt to food, and not eating food with added salt.

My concern in this article however is its implication for gendered school attendance for girls. The literature is sated with linkages between girls’ school attendance, menstruation and poor sanitary provision and facilities in schools (Ryley and Jewitt, 2014, McMahon et al 2011 and Tegegne and Sisay 2014).

As menstruation usually (not in all cases) starts with PMS-Pre-Menstrual Syndrome-a combination of emotions and symptoms experienced just before the start of the period and ranging from cramps, headaches, angry outbursts, irritability, skin problems etc (Procter and Gamble, 2015), girls on their periods face difficult times being in school. Little wonder, a research in Kenya indicated that some school girls viewed menstruation as ‘the most significant social stressor and barrier to schooling’ and prefer to manage their menses at home (McMahon et al 2011:2). What this means is that on an average of 25 school days in a month, an adolescent girl MAY only attend school for 20 days depending on her cycle; and miss out on school work and other extracurricular activities that can aid rich schooling experience.

The shame attached to menstruation is another key issue often overlooked in educational planning and management. Some policy makers and implementers are yet to come to the full realization that toilets or sanitary rooms are ‘gendered spaces’ (Jewitt and Ryley, 2014:139) and the socio-cultural myths tied to menstruation has further pushed girls from attending schools. Boys who sometimes stumble on a girl changing sanitary pads often due to lack of HER space, become the butt of jokes around school. Added to this are menstrual leakages experienced as a result of poor awareness of menstrual hygiene or the unfriendly nature of some class rules preventing girls from excusing themselves for a change. Did we add the fear of sitting next to a boy so you will not stain him or allow him see through you? For those who make it to school, their attention is severely divided; constantly checking for stains and looking suspiciously at anyone who stares at them for more than a second.

The provision of sanitary items and waste disposal facilities are rare features in most public schools in developing countries. Lack of waste disposal bins could oblige girls to take already soaked pads back home resulting to a preference to manage menses at home (Tegegne and Sisay 2014:2). The role of poverty in making girls use different unclean materials such as rags, leaves, newspapers etc in managing periods (and their attendant infections) is one that will lead us to an endless abyss of practical and academic expedition. Some of these practices and myths have been handed over across generations but their implications in modern times have broader adverse effects on a girl’s life.

As the world marks this day, several activities are lined up to call the attention of policy makers, teachers, parents, boys, men-the society to stop the stigmatization of menstruating adolescent girls but rather provide a friendly, enabling environment for the full realization of their potentials. Those in the business of producing sanitary pads should as a matter of fact give back to the society through regular donations to schools and stepping up current interventions at creating awareness for personal hygiene (hoping that teachers and other school administrators will not hoard these pads).  I will end this piece by reiterating that menstruation is a normal biological process from which flow the issues of life (Lol). Let’s drop the myths, the stigma and the mystery about periods because menstruating girls are normal and they ROCK still!

 

Excerpt from my article ‘Keep Girls in school; PERIOD!’

References

·        28^th May Menstrual Hygiene Day http://menstrualhygieneday.org/faq-4/menstrual-hygiene-day/

·        Jewitt, S and Ryley, H (2014) ‘It’s a girl thing: Menstruation, school attendance, spatial mobility and wider gender inequalities in Kenya’. School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

·        McMahon, S., Winch, P., Caruso, B., Obure, A., Ogutu, E., Ochari, I., Rheingans, R., (2011) ‘The girl with her period is the one to hang her head’. Reflections on menstrual management among schoolgirls in rural Kenya. Biomedical central 11, 1–10.

·        Procter and Gamble (2015) Always ‘PMS Symptoms’ http://www.always.com/en-us/life-stage/teens/pad/first-periods/symptoms-of-pms.aspx

·        Plan International USA(2015) ‘10 Ways Periods are Stigmatized around the world’  http://www.planusa.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/3122398

·        Tegegne T.K and Sisay M. M (2014) ‘Menstrual hygiene management and school absenteeism among female adolescent students in Northeast Ethiopia’ BMC Public Health