Youth: The Key To Breaking Taboos Surrounding Menstruation and Fighting Period Poverty

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Anthony Collins, a fifth year Medical Student from UWI Mona in Kingston, Jamaica. He is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writers and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Period poverty is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management, and education. It affects many women globally causing physical, mental, and emotional challenges due to many taboos across various cultures and stigma. Most are based on the idea that women are somehow unclean, or emit a toxic substance when menstruating. This can be linked to similar superstitions around the world such as women not being able to make jam/make bread/preserve meat/prepare food when pregnant as it won’t work/will be poisoned. As silly as those sound, they’ve existed for thousands of years and also exist as a method of control; as a tool to stigmatise women, deny their rights and reduce their influence and power in society.

There is a lack of data and research on period poverty which is a challenge as knowing the true extent of how many are affected and why would aid greatly in the fight against it. Some stats according to Plan International however include:

-1 in 7 girls have struggled to afford sanitary wear

-1 in 5 girls had to switch to less suitable sanitary wear due to cost

-More than 1 in 10 girls had to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability issues

These shocking statistics require change, from youth in particular to break the taboos surrounding menstruation. These can be in the form of addressing education issues to battle misinformation, advocacy and policy reform.

The myths that exist around periods stem from a lack of understanding of menstruation and formal education on the subject. In many schools only one session is taught either by a teacher, nurse or guidance counsellor. This is only to the girls as the boys are excused which feeds the cycle of period poverty as it is not only a women’s issue, men contribute to it as well. This contributes to the notion that periods are embarrassing and shouldn’t be talked about. This can be improved by having formal education where both males and females are properly educated so that the myths can be dispelled and accurate information can be passed on to assist with periods. 

Advocacy in the form of protests, advertisements, talk shows and forums will display the full extent of period poverty to sensitize all to the matter. Pressure needs to be placed on government agencies and businesses so that sanitary products are more accessible and affordable as they are for profit instead of for women’s health in some areas.

Lastly, policy change is needed to achieve affordability of sanitary products such as reduction or removal of tax. Incentives can also be placed for local manufacturers to boost production to increase availability in conjunction with the policy change.

 References

Policy Reforms For Dignity, Equality, and Menstrual Health (worldbank.org)

What is period poverty? (medicalnewstoday.com)

Period Poverty: What Is It & How Can We Help? | Yoppie

About the author

Anthony Collins is a fifth year Medical Student from UWI Mona in Kingston, Jamaica who’s very passionate about research, forensics and pathology. He spends his time gaining experience in those areas from clubs and their activities simulating the areas of interest. He volunteers to help those in need and the environment and serves as the Vice President of External Affairs of JAMSA Jamaica (a member of IFMSA) where he gains further personal and professional development as a student leader serving his fellow students.