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Lack of support for Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM)
is acting as a barrier to girls’ empowerment through an insidious
impact on their ability to engage in education and make good decisions
about their reproductive health. There is also systemic misinformation
and stigma around women’s reproductive health ranging from doctors
teaching that sex is the only cure for period pain to the belief that
menstruating women are dirty and can contaminate others. This poor
information environment is further disempowering due to a lack of
affordable sanitary products, forcing girls to use unhygienic and
inadequate alternatives like dirty rags and corn husks.
Through neglecting to act on this issue, international
players working towards the realisation of women’s human rights fail to
address a factor affecting their rights to basic sanitation, education
and health. This neglect is symptomatic of a development paradigm that
does not value women-specific experiences and which justifies
investment in women through instrumental measures that reflect their
utility to wider society, particularly via their role as mothers. It
also reflects a development agenda that despite its best efforts is
failing to hear the voices of the women and girls it serves.
Irise
International, an innovative and fast growing organisation
run by young professionals in Uganda and the UK, is dedicated to
improving Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM). It was founded in 2012 in
response to the concerns of East African schoolgirls about the impact
menstruation was having on their lives.
Their survey of 1,906 girls across the Great Lakes
Region suggest that issues around MHM are widespread:
·
Proportion
of girls who report missing school because of menstruation: 50%
·
Mean days
missed because of menstruation: 1.6
·
Range of
days missed because of menstruation: 0-11
·
Proportion
of girls using cloths/rags some or all of the time:68%
·
Proportion
of girls who believe menstrual pain is a sign of illness: 52%
However despite these realities MHM remains a neglected
issue. Irise works to develop a replicable and sustainable solution to
MHM through setting-up local social enterprises producing reusable pads
and delivering Menstrual Health Education (MHE). Social enterprises
create flexible employment for women and MHE empowers girls to make
choices about their own bodies.
Irise has developed and refined its model in response to
research about girls’ needs and the effectiveness of programme
interventions. The organisation now has a replicable and evidence-based
model for delivering re-usable sanitary pads and menstrual health
education to disadvantaged girls in rural communities in Uganda. To
know more about Irise International and their work visit their website
by clicking here.
This Gender update is the result of BRIDGE and Irise
International collaboration.
The following is a selection
of key resources related to the topic of gender and Menstrual Hygiene
Management (MHM) recently added to the BRIDGE global resources
database.
·
Menstrual Health Education Resource
This
Menstrual Hygiene Toolkit is intended as a resource for delivering
menstrual health education and is tailored to communities across East
Africa. It is part of a set of rights-based, girl-positive menstrual
and reproductive health resources.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/global-resources/resource/A72822
·
Menstrual Hygiene Matters. Training guide for
practitioners
This
new training guide is the latest contribution to building the knowledge
base around MHM and raising awareness of the issue globally. It seeks
to support facilitators with tools to develop and facilitate sessions
or workshops on MHM amongst development practitioners.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/global-resources/resource/A72816
·
A vicious cycle of silence: the implications of the
menstrual hygiene taboo for the realisation of the human rights of
women and girls
This
paper explores the implications of the menstruation taboo on the
fulfilment of women and girls’ human rights and assesses the extent to
which the menstruation taboo is addressed by international United
Nations treaties and human rights bodies. It includes findings from a
case study in Uganda.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/global-resources/resource/A72817
·
Grow and Know
The
Grow and Know programme aims to empower young girls and boys to reach
their potential through improved education and preparation for life. It
develops books for girls and boys that are grounded in the local
social, cultural, and economic context, and that capture the real
perspectives of young people growing up today. Initially targeted at
Tanzanian boys and girls, it was then adapted for audiences in
Cambodia, Ghana and Ethiopia.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/global-resources/resource/A72796
·
Menstrupedia - Your guide to healthy periods
Menstrupedia
aims to deliver informative and entertaining content through different
media and to shatter myths and misunderstandings surrounding menstruation.
It was developed in India by a team of communications professionals,
artists, storytellers and medical professionals.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/global-resources/resource/A72818
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Hommage à la femme : la gestion de l’hygiène
menstruelle. Briser le silence
L’hygiène
menstruelle reste un sujet tabou. Les conventions internationales sur
les droits reproductifs et sexuels ne les mentionnent pas
explicitement. Même les secteurs tels que l’eau et l’assainissement
ignorent la nécessité pour les femmes et les filles de disposer
d’espaces surs pour gérer et éliminer les serviettes utilisées pour
absorber le sang menstruel.
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