The ManicaPost
Daphne Machiri
Envisage a world in which no woman or girl agonises over period poverty and the cultural stigma attached to menstruation.
A lot needs to be done to end period poverty among women and young girls. Menstrual health management can significantly improve their well-being, health and education.
Women have the right to proper sanitation and access to affordable sanitary products.
This is directly linked to access of quality public services in line with Sustainable Development Goal number five which speaks about achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Goal number six speaks about the availability of water and sanitation for all. In spite of it being a natural phenomenon and a monthly reality which is integral to human life, menstruation remains a nightmare to many women and young girls across the world as they lack access to basic hygiene and sanitation throughout their periods.
Period poverty is a situation in which women and young girls cannot afford good menstrual hygiene products such as tampons, cotton wool and sanitary pads. These products should not be an unattainable luxury as menstrual health is a human right, not a privilege that only a few can afford.
Yet this remains a serious issue not only in Zimbabwe but across the globe. It transcends race, age and religion.
Worldwide, women and young girls use all sorts of materials — including old rags, cow dung, tree leaves and newspapers — to manage their menstruation. These inconceivable things have after effects on their reproductive health and may cause cancers.
It is also critical to manage quality control on these products as sub-standard ones may cause future health complications in the women and girls.
Other challenges include lack of toilets, disposal facilities or appropriate washrooms with clean water. Women also have to endure pain, being bullied or being restricted from certain activities during their periods due to cultural beliefs.
In some religious sects, a menstruating woman is forbidden from attending church services as she is considered ‘defiled’.
Young girls are facing impediments in acquiring education due to period poverty. This is seen through the number of girls who miss school when they are menstruating.
Girls can start menstruating as early as nine years old. It is crucial that they get all the correct information at this point as this will improve their menstrual health. Once the young girls are given sanitary towels — disposable or reusable — they need to be taught how to correctly use and dispose them.
The misconception that menstrual blood can be used in witchcraft cases has seen young girls wearing the same sanitary towel for a long period of time, which compromises their menstrual health.
Sadly, when young boys happen to know that their female counterparts are on their periods, they often tease them ruthlessly. Due to cultural myths, some male students do not want to sit next to menstruating girls out of fear of being ‘contaminated’. This ultimately forces some young girls to skip classes every month.
To curb menstrual stigma, local champions in churches and the communities have to conduct awareness campaigns that destroy menstrual taboos and create sustainable environments for menstrual and sexual reproductive health.
As the adage goes, knowledge is clout. Empowering women and girls with the requisite information will help them fight for menstrual hygiene. Culturally, there are so many myths on menstrual hygiene. Most cultures have secret codes and practices around managing menstruation, with some of these carrying harmful repercussions.
We cannot end period poverty if the women are socialised into keeping their period experiences a secret. How then will they be able to share knowledge with the young girls? How will they access sanitary wear if they consider menstruation a top secret? How then do they enjoy menstruation as part of their lives?
Some young girls and women are forced to engage in commercial sex work in search of money to buy sanitary wear, while others engage in undesirable relationships in which they are unable to negotiate for safe sex.
For these reasons, access to free and hygienic menstrual protection is important. For the world to move forward, period poverty must come to an end.
The Government of Zimbabwe has already scrapped duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) on sanitary wear to make it more affordable. Backed by Statutory Instrument 264 of 2018, the Education Amendment Act number 15 of 2019 has provisions that include the provision of free sanitary wear in schools as well as appointment of sexual and reproductive health personnel in schools.
However, more needs to be done to end period poverty.
In order to combat period poverty, there is need to prioritise menstrual hygiene in national programming. The Government should take it upon itself — with complementary efforts from civic society organisations — to adequately address menstrual management.
There is need to eradicate the culture of silence and create an environment where women and girls are free to speak about their periods without ignominy.
In addition, there is a need to address the infrastructural needs for women and girls to manage their periods. This includes those with disabilities, the homeless ones and those in prisons. Hence creating a welcoming and hygienic environment in the washroom is important, which is why sanitary products should be viewed as a washroom essential, just like toilet paper and soap.
Period pain is often overlooked but it is widespread amongst menstruating women and girls. Therefore there is need for affordable and easily accessible tablets to ease pain during menstruation.
United Kingdom based Mrs Zvisinei Dzepasi Mamutse, who is the founder of the Vasikana Project and author of “I call you sis” will soon be publishing a ‘menstrupedia’ book loaded with essential information on menstrual matters.
The book is in Shona, Ndebele and nine other languages. It encourages women to make better choices on their sexual reproductive health and menstrual management.
Mrs Mamutse says this project is a way of pursuing her late mother’s legacy – a community health worker popularly known as Mbuya Utsanana.
She explained that apart from lack of sanitary wear, period poverty also encompasses lack of knowledge on menstruation, that is the changes happening to the body and what one needs to do during menstruation.
“In most communities, discussing menstruation remains taboo, the topic is rarely covered in most schools. It was a subject left for the aunties and grandmothers but migration has left most families scattered across the world, thereby leaving the young girls with no one to talk to about these issues” she said.
Shamwari Yemwanasikana has also been disseminating information on sexual and reproductive health. Director Ekenia Chifamba said it is time to eliminate the stigma around menstruation, adding that menstruating women and girls need to enjoy a normal life.
She said there is need to engage society at family level so that parents can attend to their daughters’ needs.
“Menstruating is a sign of womanhood, celebrate and embrace it. It is unfortunate that society sees it as a taboo. We are told it is our secret, how then do I educate my sisters and share my experience with them? We need to talk about menstruation,” she said.
“It’s important to conscientise the community on how menstruation is a natural process that should not hinder anyone in life,” said Chifamba.
“It’s also important to conduct financial literacy lessons with the young girls so that they are able to save their own money and purchase sanitary wear if no one else can buy for them,” she said.
