Menstrual Health Management: An introduction
People who menstruate include women, girls, transgender men and genderqueer or nonbinary people with uteruses and vaginas. On average, people who menstruate will have 456 total periods over 38 years, adding up to approximately 7 years of life spent menstruating. While a regular menstrual cycle is often a sign of good health, several health problems are tied to menstruation and poor management of menstrual health and hygiene can significantly aggravate these health concerns. Furthermore, insufficient menstrual health management (MHM) can have significant impacts on the quality of life of people who menstruate, sometimes causing people to abstain from school or work activities during their menstruation.
Despite the significant role of menstruation in the lives of people who menstruate, MHM is continuously stigmatized and sidelined across the world, including in highly developed economies. There is a prevailing sense across many cultures that menstruation is dirty or shameful, and the resulting silence facilitates the spread of myths and taboos. In the US, essential MHM products are taxed and often not available in public spaces such as schools or workplaces. In other countries, including Senegal, false beliefs about menstruation can lead to the isolation of people during menstruation or the early marriage of girls.
UNFPA and MHM
As the primary UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, UNFPA works directly on initiatives related to MHM. UNFPA supports MHM through four key activities:
The distribution of dignity kits containing disposable and reusable menstrual pads, underwear, and soap in humanitarian emergencies.
The improvement of MHM awareness and information through comprehensive sexuality education programming and youth engagement projects
The support of national health systems to build capacity to properly address all health concerns, including menstrual disorders.
The collection of menstrual health data for research on MHM.
At UNFPA Senegal, MHM programming is growing. We current distribute dignity kits after natural disasters, address MHM in our GINDMA initiative, and work with incredible local partners such as Santé Mobile on the distribution of reusable menstrual pads and MHM education.
Gender and WASH
MHM is also a topic that opens up conversation about the intersections of gender and sanitation more broadly. While looking critically at strategies to improve our MHM programming, for example, we have become increasingly cognisant of the importance of spaces for MHM. For example, it is often noted that young girls in Senegal miss school because they do not have any suitable materials to manage their menstruation, referred to as menstrual absorbents. Focussing entirely on absorbents, however, may cause us to overlook the role of decent toilet access. Even if every girl in Senegal had access to menstrual pads, they would still risk missing school if they did not have a safe and clean place to change these pads throughout the school day.
Underdevelopment and the resulting scarcity of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure has disproportionate impacts on women and girls. In addition to being more likely to menstruate, women and girls are also more likely to be pregnant or suffer from incontinence, thus increasing sanitation needs. Furthermore, women and girls are generally expected to maintain a higher level of modestly than men and boys, thus reducing their ability to relieve themselves in open spaces. Finally, there is increasing attention paid to the intersections between WASH and gender-based violence. In poorly designed communal or public latrines present in informal settlements and displacement camps, women and girls are at heightened risk of harassment and sexual assault, especially at night. These factors have led some gender and WASH actors to call for the increased mainstreaming of the two sectors, including through the development and dissemination of female-friendly toilets.
Conclusion
Working at UNFPA this summer has been an incredible opportunity to learn more about many thematic areas, including menstruation, gender, and sanitation. Menstruation is not only an issue for women and girls, it's a human rights issue, and it is high time we all started giving it the attention it deserves.
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