March 1, 2012/ Belen Torondel
Menstruation is a major part of
life for millions of young girls and women worldwide. On average, a woman will
menstruate for 3,000 days during her lifetime. However, the needs and challenges
faced by many young women and girls as they struggle to manage their menstrual
hygiene are largely ignored, especially in developing countries. This situation
persists despite new developments in the hygiene and sanitation sector in
recent years. Addressing this issue is not just about the availability of
related products and facilities: hygienic sanitary pads, water, and toilets
with lockable doors to ensure privacy. It also involves tackling the
embarrassment that prevents young girls and women sharing their questions, the
shame often associated with menstruation, and the cruelty of people laughing at
young girls and women when they find out they are menstruating.
This situation gets even more complicated if young girls and women
have to go to schools or other public places where there is either no toilet or
no hygienic toilet, no water and soap, and no facilities for disposal of
materials. Many of them decide to stay at home and therefore miss many hours of
school and education. Menstruation can also affect women’s social lives,
especially in cultures where menstruating women are expected to act, or are
treated, differently. For example, in some cultures, a woman may not attend
community worship and in certain cases must stay away from her family during
menstruation due to social taboos.
Many women are also subject to health risks. Urinary tract
infections, dermatitis, abdominal pains, vaginal scabies and complications
during pregnancy can all be caused by poor menstrual hygiene management. The
factors leading to these difficulties include lack of awareness, lack of
hygienic sanitary pads, lack of toilets without water and soap, and lack of
drying areas for rags used for menstrual hygiene management. I wonder why the
issue of menstrual hygiene management continues to be neglected? Is it because
female voices are not heard within the family, town, health service,
government, or intervention programmes? Is the topic not discussed because
women feel ashamed or embarrassed to talk about it? Or are such messages not
listened to by policy-makers designing programmes for the education and health
sectors?
Who should be doing something, and which sector should take the
lead: gender, sanitation, education, reproductive health, or the private
sector? Women and girls of the world: talk about the topic and break the taboo.
This is the starting point of a long journey that we all still need to walk
together. Our contribution is to begin assessing the current available evidence
and to identify areas of research that can make a difference in this important
aspect of women’s life. This research will serve as a foundation for action on
this important issue.
Source: Trust.org
No comments:
Post a Comment
You can add your voices here....