Our Menstrual health is a basic biology. But society still insists on preserving the antiquated taboo through shame and oppression.
Globally, period poverty is a reality for many women. According to Plan International U.K., one in seven girls aged 14-21 cannot afford menstrual products. In addition, period poverty interferes with a girl’s education. A survey conducted by the company Always found that 1 in 5 girls have missed school due to lacking period products in the U.S. The issue also plagues many homeless women, for according to Erin Da Eun Song, an artist, and activist, “Homeless women have to choose between a meal or products.”
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Period Stigma
Despite the fact that half the population currently menstruating, every person who has menstruated can name at least one time when they have felt singled out or ashamed for having their period. Society views periods as that week out of each month where women are hormonal, bleeding creatures that will attack at any moment.
Teenagers are told they’ve “reached womanhood” when they get their period. When a woman gets her period, she becomes a “sexual being,” so soiled clothes are thrown away, and men aren’t allowed to touch her for these weeks. Misogyny like this makes society look down on the natural biological process. Menstrual products are even shunned. Many cultures believe that period cup or tampons take the virginity of young girls just because they go inside them. In this situation, women are forced to wear menstrual pads, making them feel the blood leaving their bodies, exacerbating their embarrassment and shame.
Middle school is often the time when menstruation appears and period stigma. Middle school is already a challenging time for children starting puberty. Adding the shame of the natural cycle increases their emotional stress. Most young boys don’t understand or are disgusted by young girls getting their periods. Whenever a girl discloses that she’s on her period, she’ll usually hear responses like “ew” or “I didn’t need to know that,” sometimes even an awkward “oh.” Suppose someone notices even a single spot of blood on her pants.
The period stigma doesn’t end in middle school either. You’ll be the laughing stock if you bleed through your pants. Within society, people point it out to their friends, or they whisper to each other across the room, disgusted. It’s an awful experience. It’s impossible to hold in a period. It’s uncontrollable.
Period Poverty
Most women menstruate each month for about two to seven days. Despite this being a normal biological phenomenon, menstruation, ironically, is stigmatized around the world even in the 21st century. From the onset of puberty until the attainment of menopause, millions of women around the world experience period poverty because of prevailing menstrual inequity.
Period Poverty exists everywhere in the world, including in developed countries. Nearly 12 million American women live below the poverty line, and most of them do not have access to sanitary pads. In the UK, 1 in 10 girls can’t afford to buy menstrual products, while 1 in 7 has struggled to afford them. And mainly since the pandemic started, the demand for menstrual products in UK food banks has risen dramatically.
When women and girls can’t afford or access sanitary products, they often resort to using newspapers, pillowcases, tea towels, or even rolling swaths of toilet paper onto their underwear, which only reinforces the cycle of poverty. The anxiety and humiliation that comes with period poverty are not something to be brushed off. A woman’s mental health is in severe decline if she cannot manage her menstrual cycles.
Join Forces To End The Period Stigma and Period Poverty
Period stigma and period poverty go beyond financial hardship and societal oppression. Lack of knowledge and comprehensive (read: positive) sex education are contributing to the problem. Addressing the ongoing challenge of period poverty must include grass roots and multi-sectoral efforts. Thankfully, more community, change-makers, leaders and brands have stepped up to end the taboo and finally talk about periods.
Sahas Foundation – India
Sahas Foundation is a youth-run organization working towards creating a gender-inclusive society by educating adolescents and young people on the issues of Gender, Sexuality, and Reproductive health. For years, Sahas Foundation has focused on intensive community gender intervention in the slum communities of Delhi and rural regions of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.
We collaborated with Sahyogi, Patna to collate video stories of their team members and adolescent girls in their community sharing their first period experience on Menstrual Hygiene Day #mhday2022 #wearecommitted #endperiodstigma #endperiodpoverty pic.twitter.com/yAMJ8L0gXQ
— Sahas (@Sahas_1015) May 8, 2022
Perfect Fit – Indonesia
Perfect Fit is a start-up that focuses on women in getting better menstrual health through eco-friendly products and education. After working in the field of women’s empowerment for almost four years, two young Indonesian women founded this company, Tungga Dewi and Riesa Putri. Perfect Fit seeks to provide women with environmentally friendly menstrual products and information on reproductive health, women’s rights, and environmental sustainability.
The Perfect Fit pants are designed to mimic the shape of most underwear by incorporating a special layer in the middle to absorb liquid and prevent leaks. Perfect Fit products can absorb up to 20 ml of liquid or the equivalent of four disposable sanitary napkins.
To tackle period poverty in Indonesia, Perfect Fit applies “Buy One Give One” model. Every purchase of a menstrual product from them will result in the donation of another to women in remote areas. By doing this, Perfect Fit is reducing the condition of period poverty or menstrual poverty in Indonesia.
Go With The Flow – Singapore
Go With The Flow (GWTF) aims to end period poverty in Singapore through sanitary pad donation and distribution. Go WIth The Flow helps under-privileged and low-income menstruators in Singapore get through their periods dignified and worry free. Through sanitary pad donation and distribution, Go With The Flow (GWTF) Singapore aims to eradicate period poverty in Singapore and close the gender gap in menstrual healthcare.
Suci Cup – Malaysia
The Suci Menstrual Cup was born out of a desire to provide alternative period care that positively impacts women, society, and the environment in Malaysia. We want to help create a future where women do not have to be held back by their periods and are instead empowered by period-care alternatives that make a difficult time of the month easier to manage via the life-changing reusable menstrual cup.
With Suci Menstrual Cups, women everywhere will have access to more safe and sustainable alternatives to period care products. It also aims to show that sustainability is not hard or expensive (it’s actually cheaper). Women deserve to choose and use what makes them feel confident. Read how Suci Cup is working to break the taboo one step at a time here.
The Sustainable Menstruation Coalition – India
The Sustainable Menstruation Coalition brings the power of collective action to find a solution for complex problems that affects the lives of women, girls and their families in India – and across the globe. Menstrual health remains a low-priority issue in India and is marred with taboos, shame, misinformation, and poor access to sanitation facilities and menstrual products. Find more about their campaign here.
Without a shadow of a doubt, making changes is absolutely crucial for everyone. Do we want to build a future where women cannot afford period products, are forced to use toilet paper or clothing? Or do we want to live in a world where women have access to menstrual hygiene, a basic human right? Join the movement for change today. Will you ?
Lead image courtesy of Maria Barba. Find her art here.
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