28/05/2023
Menstruation is an inevitable part of most women’s lives. The average woman would observe menstruation every month of her life for approximately 35 years. Thus, over this period the average woman would go through more or less 20000 sanitary pads.
Considering these implications, the economic costs for the average woman/adolescent are staggering in low-income, especially in rural communities in Ghana and beyond.
Menstrual cycles are tied to reproductive health as well as other aspects of women’s health. With menstruation comes menstrual practices, and a key part of good health for women is hygienic menstrual practices. This is an issue that fails to receive proper attention.
Hygienic menstrual practices include the use of sanitary pads during menstrual flows. Sadly, most women and adolescent girls are unable to have access to these essential products that will help maintain their menstrual health either because they are too expensive or they are unavailable, especially in rural areas in countries in Ghana.
They are therefore forced to resort to unhygienic menstrual practices. Unhygienic menstrual practices include the use of tissue paper, newspaper, rags, cotton wool, and even the use of damaged reusable absorbent pads.
It is alarming because various studies have linked improper and unhygienic menstrual practices to reproductive tract infections, urinary tract infections, urogenital and other vaginal diseases as well as poor psychosocial outcomes.
Some of these reproductive infections are linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, a higher predisposition to the acquisition of s*xually transmitted infections (STI), infertility, low birth weight as well as a pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) among others.
What is even more disturbing is that these reproductive tract infections are sometimes asymptomatic, and the damage can be long done before the victim is aware.
Women’s health needs to ensure that hygienic menstrual practices can be observed and that women have easy access to sanitary pads. Now in affluent countries, access to sanitary pads and other appropriate forms of menstrual management may be taken for granted.
However, access to sanitary pads in underdeveloped low-income countries in Africa is a major problem for many women and adolescent girls. And obviously, this does not bode well for the well-being especially reproductive health of these women and girls who lack access to sanitary pads.
And the kicker is, these countries in Africa have underdeveloped and overwhelmed healthcare management systems. This means that women and girls who contract reproductive infections for the most part might be unable to get access to healthcare to treat themselves.
School-based studies indicate poorer menstrual hygiene among girls in rural areas and those attending public schools. This is because people in rural areas and those who attend public schools are usually not of the affluent class. Especially in the Savannah Region of Ghana.
In such rural areas, the use of sanitary pads is more common among women and adolescent girls in the middle or upper class of which only a minority belongs.
Another consequence of the lack of access to sanitary pads for adolescent girls is missing school. When adolescent girls are on their periods, what they use often causes leakage and so they must be absent from school which interrupts their education. Especially in the Savannah Region of Ghana where girl education is already a problem.
A lot of times, this absenteeism often leads to girls leaving school altogether. The use of these poor options often also causes psychological and emotional distress for women in addition to certain cultural practices surrounding a woman’s menstruation.
Another alarming consequence is that the unavailability of sanitary pads, quite shockingly, causes women and girls to engage in risky s*xual behavior. In some cases, girls have exchanged s*x for money just to be able to purchase sanitary products. And this can become an easy segue into prostitution and being victims of human trafficking. All from lack of access to sanitary pads.
It has become obvious that access to sanitary pads for women is as much a social justice issue as it is a health issue. There are so many poor outcomes for women and adolescent girls who are unable to have access to sanitary pads and other hygienic menstrual practices. These poor outcomes range from psychological, and social, as well as the health of women and adolescent girls.
It is saddening that something taken for granted can lead to harmful outcomes resulting in irreversible damage to the lives of women and adolescent girls. Interventions should be undertaken either by governmental authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private bodies, etc. in a way to make sanitary pads, as well as hygienic menstrual practices accessible to adolescent girls and women in all income settings.
This can come in the form of government subsidizing companies that produce sanitary pads so they can be easily accessible and can become an essential service provided by the government to women and adolescent girls in low-income settings. Private bodies and NGOs can help by donating sanitary pads to women and adolescent girls in low-income settings.
This is where the BRM(BasicResilienceMentorshipProgram) comes in. BRM recognizes that this is an essential need for young Ghanaian adolescent girls and women in the Savannah Region. We have come to realize that in the poorest parts of Ghana, adolescent girls and women cannot afford to buy sanitary pads. We have also observed how this leads to absenteeism in school and how this negatively impacts their education.
BRM also recognizes that menstrual periods are still seen as a cultural taboo. We also note that when girls do not have sanitary pads and suffer a leak in school, they often feel ashamed leading to poor psychosocial outcomes.
So, what We do is provide the poorest communities quarterly with sanitary pads. They provide sanitary pads to the less privileged girls in the local community.
We do this to protect the health and dignity of the girl child. We do this to ensure that the girl child can stay in school so that the cycle of poverty can be broken. We do this to ensure that her reproductive health does not have to be affected by wrong and harmful menstrual practices.
We do this so that the girl child does not have to suffer urogenital diseases. We do this so that the girl child does not have to suffer poor psychosocial outcomes as a result of lack of access to sanitary pads.
We do this so that the girl child does not have to suffer exploitation or worse trafficking all for something as simple as access to sanitary pads. We also ensure that we educate girls about menstrual cycles and women’s health so that they can be aware of safe menstrual practices.
It’s incredible how something as simple as the provision of sanitary pads affects positively the education of the girl child, a social justice issue. It’s amazing how positive outcomes in the education of the girl child affect future generations by breaking the cycle of poverty.
Through the education of girls and communities on menstrual cycles by the BRM, local communities can learn to discuss menstrual cycles without it being seen as taboo or something to be ashamed of.
Through all these efforts, BRM hopes to find ways for local communities to have access to menstrual health and sanitation for themselves and others.
The BRM being a non-governmental organization and a not-for-profit organization relies on the donations made by foundation members, supporters, and partners. But that can only go a little way. This is why the BRM appeals to the good conscience of members of the public for donations.
Any donation amount will be helpful and will go a long way in helping less privileged adolescent girls and women have sanitary pads. Further details on how to donate can be done through 0549654997 or [email protected].
Please when you donate, you are donating to the well-being of women and the future of the girl child. You are helping her stay healthy. You are preserving her dignity. You are giving her better psychosocial outcomes. You are preventing her from suffering exploitation or trafficking. So, please donate as much as you can. Thank you.
