Parents need to educate their children on menstrual health matters when they are young to prevent them from associating their period with shame.
CEO Young Jewels foundation Dinah Muthuka says most girls who get their period at tender ages always feel ashamed and blame themselves because they do not understand what is happening.
"Parents should realize it starts young and talk to their girls about what to do when it comes. Raising awareness will help to remove the stigma and normalize the idea of women on their period," she said.
Lack of access to sanitary towels and proper sanitation are some of the challenges that young girls in rural areas face during their period.
Muthuka says these challenges are enhanced by the high poverty levels in rural areas. Currently, the foundation has adopted 11 needy rural schools where they distribute sanitary towels every term.
On sanitation, Muthuka says inadequacy of water makes it hard to distribute reusable pads which are more efficient than the one off pads.
"The reusable pads require a lot of water to clean them after use and where water is a challenge. giving the girls reusable pads is simply adding more problems for them," she said.
The stigma and shame associated with periods make girls shy and reluctant to talk about the problems they may encounter during that time.
"Some girls will have only one underwear to use and it presents an issue during their period, however, because they are ashamed of what is happening, they do not talk to anyone about it," said Muthuka.
Shame and stigma will also see girls in rural areas miss school during their period. A girl absent from school due to menses for four days loses 12 learning days in a month which is equivalent to 36 learning days in a year.
Engaging the children in matters related to menstrual health will help in reducing the stigma and shame, Muthuka says.
Her foundation has set up pad dispensers to ease the access to sanitary towels in the schools.
"We have children's parliaments in the schools we have adopted so that they run the dispensers. This is because children feel more comfortable if they do not have to keep 'reporting' to the teachers when it happens," she said.
Media personality Janet Mbugua petitioned Parliament to improve on the Menstrual Health Management Policy in Kenya to ensure all women in Kenya are receiving adequate services.
“Every day, women and girls who lack the income and access to afford sanitary products face significant barriers, including insufficient education about MHM and inadequate access to quality, low-cost products,” said Janet in a statement last week.
These barriers, she says, hurt women and girls in various ways. There are women who can’t afford menstrual health products and are forced to use homemade materials, which are often ineffective and can lead to infections and other health issues.
There are girls who don’t have access to sanitary products, and as a result, they feel they have no option but to stay home while menstruating, due to fear and shame, which deprives them of getting a quality education.
What’s worse, she says, there are women and girls who are engaging in transactional sex to purchase sanitary products, putting them at risk and increasing their chances of unintended pregnancies and/or contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
