Keep a Girl in School by... Buying Her Pads?

Emily almost had to drop out of school.

This young Kenyan woman was both a widow and a mother. It would be easy to imagine that one of these things caused her to drop out. And yet, neither of them were the reason. The reason that she came so close to never finishing her education was because of . . . her period?

This story is more common than you might think. Around the world, only 12% of women use sanitary pads (Plan). And that fact can be more devastating than you’ve probably ever imagined.

Girls like Emily all around the world don’t have access to sanitary napkins, clean toilets, or hygienic ways to take care of their periods. This natural, regular part of a woman’s life can cause them to have to drop out of school, and cause them deep shame and embarrassment.

Around the world, only 12% of women use sanitary pads.

In many developing countries, there are taboos surrounding women’s menstruation. In Nepal, women on their periods are not allowed to touch or eat fruit or vegetables during their menstrual cycles, because it is believed that it will cause the food to rot (The Guardian).  They're also not allowed to touch men during their periods, and often cannot attend religious functions. Sometimes, women are even banished to a menstrual hut when they're on their periods (Greenhalgh & Doucleff).

Can you even imagine?

The huts are often not well constructed or protected. And because of this, many women are afraid of being raped when they have to sleep there.

And they have to sleep there several days of every month!

Many of these countries have religious myths justifying their beliefs about the danger of menstruation (Greenhalgh & Doucleff). These myths drive the cultural taboos surrounding menstruation, which makes it even harder for women to combat these beliefs.

Because of all of these taboos, menstruation doesn’t really get discussed. One study found that 70% of women in India didn’t have a close family member talk to them about menstruation before it happened (Schechtman). When it did happen for the first time, these poor girls had no idea what was going on.

And even after they understand what's happening, taking care of it every month is extremely difficult. Most of these women don’t have access to sanitary pads, so they resort to using other things. Most end up using unsanitary rags, but some even use things like ashes or husk sand (Sinha). Those who use rags don’t always adequately wash them. They also have to let them dry in out of the way places (so that men don’t have to see the rags), which often leads to the rags never drying out properly. And these poor levels of hygiene lead to widespread vaginal and urinary infections among these women (UNICEF).