The menstrual cycle is an inevitable part of a normal woman’s life. However, at its onset, this monumental biological change comes with many challenges that sometimes fright the young girls and make them vulnerable.
The main challenge for most girls and young women across the country is lack of access to sanitary towels, mostly since they cannot afford them. Yet the towel, also called a sanitary pad, is integral to basic hygiene and sexual and reproductive health.
Girls from poor families suffer the most as there is often no money to purchase the pads. The product is foregone for things that seem more important to the family head, such as food and other basic essentials.
The situation is so dire that vulnerability exposes girls to sexual predators, particularly men, who violate them after luring them with the money to buy the pads. This puts the girls at risk of contracting HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancy.
With schools closed, girls are spending more time at home. And with no teachers to run to, they opt for alternatives that could expose them to health risks such as infection in the private parts. This leads to physical damage and psychological distress.
Last year, the media had a story of a menstruating girl who stuffed pieces of cloth and cottonwool in her genitalia in a bid to stem the bleeding while out of fear that she had hurt herself and was going to die.
While sanitary towels and other alternatives such as tampons and menstrual cups are essential, sexual and reproductive health education is extremely important too. One cannot manage the periods if they do not understand what is happening to their body.
Teachers often play the role. But that was before the coronavirus pandemic led to closure of schools. Some parents help their children to navigate this phase in life but others shy away from it or don’t have the time, being too busy at work.
The government, through the ministries of Education and Health, ought to incorporate online and broadcast menstrual health education to seal the gap.
Since 2011, the government has allocated money to distribution of free sanitary pads to girls schools. However, the programme has not been run well. Sometimes the administrators steal the pads and sell them or supplies run out.
Some schools are yet to benefit from it while, for girls who do not attend school, pads are a tale that they hear from others. The government must ensure that the gender and reproductive health budget funds are used properly to pull girls out of a life of shame.
The government should also distribute free sanitary pads to needy households through Nyumba Kumi committees and chiefs as they best understand the residents in the community.
Girls are suffering in silence from the menstrual cycle issues. Let the war against Covid-19 not derail that of menstrual health.
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