Towards Alleviating Menstrual Poverty: World Menstrual Hygiene Day 2025.

Menstrual poverty is a topic that cannot be ignored while talking about the health and wellbeing of women in different parts of the world. In the 21st century, a lot of women and girls are not able to continue with their daily activities, when its time for their period. It is not because of the cramps and discomfort associated with menstruation, but the fact that these female cannot afford sanitary care products for their period.

Menstruation, instead of being a natural occurrence, a lot of females see it as a curse, because of the fact that they do not have what it takes to handle their flow. These females are left with no option than to resort to the use of unhygienic products such as rags, old socks, newspapers, and sometimes pants, just to control the flow of blood.

While menstrual poverty increases the spread of infection because of lack of hygienic menstrual products such as pads, menstrual cups and tampons, it create a “your world stops for four days” effect. This means that females cannot go about their normal activities for four days, till their flows stop. Imagine girls skipping classes and exams because they do not want their school dresses or skirts stained the whole time.

Recognizing the struggle most female face during menstruation, She Can Advocacy and Empowerment Initiative decided to conduct an outreach in a Nigerian secondary school, where we taught girls about menstruation, menstrual hygiene and menstruation poverty in Nigeria. It was an interactive session, as the girls asked questions about their menstrual cycle and the right way to use menstruation care products.

Through this outreach, we achieved the following:

• Educated girls about menstruation.
• Demystified myths associated with menstruation.
• Made the girls understand that menstruation is a natural occurrence and is not something to be shy about.
• Discussed menstruation poverty and how to it affects the daily lives of women.
• Discussed hygiene tips to be observed during and after menstruation.

We observed that:

• A lot of families do not actually teach their girls about menstruation and a lot of girls rely on their peers to educate them about menstruation.
• Three out of ten girls did not know about menstruation, until they started experiencing their periods. They were scared the first time they saw blood stain their inner wear, because they did not know the meaning of menstruation.
• Some of these girls are shy to talk about menstruation, because they have been told that its not worth talking about.
• Some families have myths associated with menstruation and they pass these down to their girls. Imagine telling a girl that she is unclean, because she is on her period.

It was an educating outreach, and we are glad that the girls understood the concept of menstruation and were able to erase the myths that has been instilled in them by their families about menstruation. Through outreaches like this, we hope to sensitize more girls about menstruation and also join in the fight against menstrual poverty in Nigeria and Africa.