Period pads and education

In sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than 1 in 5 girls make it to secondary school and secondary school completion rates for adolescent girls is below 5%.

Instead, currently 1 in 7 girls growing up in developing countries are married before the age of 15 and half of all first-time births are to adolescent girls. Moreover, the death in pregnancy rate of a child bride is double that of a woman in her 20s.

What’s the solution? Education

The link between education and poverty alleviation have been well documented. The Girl Effect shows that better educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labour market, earn higher incomes, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and enable better health care and education for their children, should they choose to become mothers. All these factors combined can help lift households, communities, and nations out of poverty.

Specifically:

• When a girl in the developing world receives seven years of education, she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children. 

• An extra year of secondary school boosts a girl’s eventual wages by 15-25%

Research and reliable data about the specific and wide-ranging impacts of lack of access to period pads is scant – there simply hasn’t been enough work done in this area, compared to what we know about the consequences of lack of access to clean water. However, from our work on the ground in Kenya, we know first-hand that a key barrier to girls attending school regularly is the lack of access to sanitary products. And the research is beginning to catch up: 

“Reports from Africa estimate that within four years of high school, each girl loses156 learning days equivalent to almost 24 weeks out of 144 weeks of learning.”

Source: Water aid report on Sanitation and Hygiene for Women and Girls

Period pads and sexual safety

“Some people exchange sex for money. The money is used to buy pads.”

Source: Mason L, Nyothach E, Alexander K, Odhiambo FO, Eleveld A, Vulule J, et al. ’We keep it secret so no one should know’—a qualitative study to explore young schoolgirls attitudes and experiences with menstruation in rural western Kenya. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8(11):e79132

Research in Kenya estimates that 10% adolescent girls have traded sex for sanitary products, as these products are simply too expensive for many to buy. 

What’s the solution? Empowerment

Our first micro-factory in Kenya is located in Kibera slum, the largest slum in Nairobi – and our main beneficiaries are the schoolgirls there. Since July 2019, our in-country partners have given pads to over 6,000 schoolgirls and they distribute pads monthly to 800 girls. They take this opportunity to speak to the girls about their experiences of having their periods and what they need to be able to do this in a way that doesn’t compromise their secondary education or put them at risk. We hope to formalise these discussions into a menstrual health education programme – targeted not only at the girls, but also the boys. Our aim is to start breaking down the taboos around menstruation – and change the conversation from one of powerlessness to empowerment.

Changing the conversation about periods

Menstruation is a natural part of growing up and blesses women with the ability to reproduce –continuing the evolutionary journey of humanity. Half of humanity bleeds and yet for many, what should be a simple fact of life has untold consequences on their overall life chances. We believe that the key to unlocking the challenges faced by millions of women and girls globally starts with changing the conversation about menstruation and breaking the taboos around periods, which still exist in so many cultures.

What’s the solution? Equality

Girls and women everywhere need consistent access to cost-effective, hygienic sanitary products so that they can attend school, hold down jobs and fulfil their potential.

Communities everywhere need to engage in the conversation around menstrual health, including the breaking of taboos which lead to practices of ‘period shaming.’

Research and funding for menstrual health management needs to be prioritised as a key lever to achieve gender equality. 

We hope that our work can be a driver for all of these goals being achieved in our lifetime.