By Martin MBEWE
Sophie Ascheim a founding member of the Pad Project, a non-profit dedicated to ending period poverty and the stigma around menstrual periods globally, once said: “A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.”
Can you imagine being on your period without access to clean water, a good sanitation facility, and a sanitary pad?
This is the reality for many young girls in Malawi, especially in rural areas experiencing period poverty.
Period poverty refers to the lack of funds to buy basic personal hygiene items such as sanitary pads, soap, and menstrual cups.
A report by YORGHAS Foundation states that more than 75 percent of girls from rural areas in Malawi are facing period poverty.
These girls do not have access to period products that can help them manage their periods safely, hygienically, and without shame.
Menstruation challenges have a severe negative impact on the health and educational opportunities of adolescent girls.
Not only that, but they also affect families, communities, and countries.
Report findings by Global Partnership for Education indicate that period poverty prevents young girls from going to school, consequently disrupting their education, contrary to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) which seeks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Girls also miss out on school because they fear being teased or suffering from the stigma associated with menstrual periods.
Period poverty can result in many adolescent girls missing classes for a week every month.
This, in the long run, could lead to them dropping out of school, consequently putting them at risk of other regressive practices such as forced early marriages with the potential of exposing them to pregnancy and complications during delivery.
Education for girls is important because it exposes them to good health practices, and informs them of the type of health care that they need, consequently improving and promoting health equity.
Research findings by the National Institute of Health of Malawi pointed out that “education improves health” because it enhances a sense of personal control that encourages and enables a healthy lifestyle.
When girls are educated, they are empowered with the knowledge they need to take care of their bodies during their periods.
There is a need for us, therefore, to deal with period poverty in Malawi if we want to promote girl child education and achieve SDG4 by 2030, so that we promote gender equality, reduce poverty, improve health, empower girls, drive economic development, and break the cycle of poverty.
Poor menstrual hygiene can also pose other health risks like reproductive and urinary tract infections which can result in infertility and birth complications.
Period poverty can also affect the mental health of young girls if they are unable to find the right people to talk to, about what they are experiencing, leaving them, on occasion, to be at the mercy of ill-informed opinions from some of their friends and peers.
The time has come for everyone regardless of gender to take part in ending period poverty among young girls in Malawi.
There is a need for us to join hands in supporting young girls with locally-made, affordable, reusable sanitary pads.
There is also a need to look into the reduction of the prices of soap and the building of good sanitary facilities in schools as well as in homes.
These interventions will help the girls to manage their periods safely thereby maintaining their sexual health and reducing school absenteeism.
There is also the strategic need to raise awareness about the importance of menstrual hygiene management and deal with persisting taboos and stigma surrounding this natural phenomenon, which is a normal fact of life.
The government through the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, and the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability, and Social Welfare continues to work with humanitarian organizations to reduce period poverty among adolescent girls in Malawi.
In March 2022, Malawi’s parliament passed a bill that aims to reduce the price of sanitary pads.
Organizations such as Action Aid Malawi, Tingathe, Plan International, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ufulu Malawi, and the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) are working tirelessly to end period poverty among young girls.
The Malawi National Girls’ Education Strategy (MNGES) championed by the Ministry of Education is also advocating for improving school sanitation facilities by constructing toilets with change rooms in primary schools, procuring and distributing sanitary pads in schools for adolescent girls, and printing as well as distributing booklets on menstrual hygiene management to all adolescent girls.
Awareness on menstrual hygiene should therefore not only be amplified on May 28th when the world comes together to celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day but it should be positioned as an all-year-round conversation that highlights the importance of menstrual hygiene management and also effectively deal with taboos that surround menstruation.
Additionally, menstruation issues should be discussed openly in schools and homes so that young girls can understand them better.
About the author: The writer is a Development Communications Specialist based in Lilongwe, Malawi
