- Teaching girls how to use and dispose of sanitary towels is important; some fold them and insert them in their vaginas like tampons.
- Head of Marvel Five Investments says girls in rural Kenya are the most neglected and affected.
Image: FILE
Old blankets, tissue paper, mattresses and cotton wool are some of the items poor girls use during their periods for lack of sanitary towels.
And hovering about them are sexual predators ready to buy them pads in exchange for sex, says Janetta Mwangi, head of Marvel Five Investments.
"In places like Kisumu, the boda boda operators who always have some cash will tell the girls that they can buy them the products in exchange for sex," she said.
"And this happens in several other places in rural Kenya."
Mwangi, whose company distributes Sunny and Marvel sanitary towels, added that giving girls pads is not enough.
"Educating girls on how to use and dispose of them is also important. Some girls who do not know [how to use them] will fold them and insert them like tampons," she said.
Mwangi's company donated sanitary towels to girls at Bissil Primary School in Kajiado on Saturday as part of an initiative called 'Each one, Reach one'.
She said girls in rural Kenya are the most neglected and affected. "Every year, we go to rural areas to teach young girls about menstruation and menstrual health, and help them understand what menstrual health is all about," Mwangi said.
They use the forum to eliminate misconceptions about menstruation. These include menstruation indicates readiness for marriage and sex, it limits women’s abilities and it should not be discussed publicly.
"Educating people helps reduce the stigma and shame associated with menstruation as well as people who are unable to control passing urine due to illness or old age," Mwangi said.
The government by law is mandated to provide free sanitary towels to girls in public, primary and special needs schools through the Education ministry.
Last October, however, the government said it lacked funds to provide pads.
Education CS George Magoha said the Sh470 million provided for the free sanitary towels is only enough to purchase supplies for four months.
"If you calculate the current allocation against a population of 1.4 million girls, then at best we can provide sanitary towels for only four months. What happens for the rest of the year?" he said.
In January, however, 300,000 expired GOK sanitary pads were impounded at a construction site in Juja being repackaged for sale.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, women face menstruation-related exclusion, neglect or discrimination during their periods.
"Gender inequality, extreme poverty, humanitarian crises, and harmful traditions can all turn menstruation into a time of deprivation and stigma," UNFPA says.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya