Alice (not her real name) is a class seven pupil living in the Baba Dogo area, Ruaraka constituency.
The informal settlement is not short of challenges, but hers is the constant water shortages in the area.
During her period, Alice is forced to borrow water from her neighbours in order to take a bath twice a day to stay clean and feel fresh.
“We were encouraged at school to shower twice a day when we are on our periods so that people do not notice we are bleeding. I am scared people will smell that I am bleeding so, I just shower two times a day,” she said.
Unfortunately, due to water shortages, her neighbours manage to give her a jug of water because they also have little to spare.
Alice was speaking at the launch of a sanitary pad vending machine by Boxgirls Kenya in Baba Dogo on December 18.
This is a common trend in Kenya’s informal settlements that often lag behind on development and infrastructural needs.
According to UN Women, 1.25 billion women and girls globally do not have access to a safe, private toilet while 526 million do not have a toilet at all.
Through a data infographic released by the agency on Monday, the impact of this lack on women and girls was highlighted.
“Fear of stigmatisation along with limited access to menstrual hygiene supply, water, disposal facilities, and private clean bathrooms negatively impact girls’ school attendance and performance,” said the agency.
It also places girls at risk of being preyed upon by unscrupulous men in their communities who may want to extort them for sex in exchange for sanitary pads and water that rights groups are constantly working to eradicate.
Workplaces that do not have menstrual hygiene management policies in place also lead to women’s work output being at risk.
According to a study done by USAID in partnership with WASHPALS on Menstrual Hygiene Management in the workplace released in December, women reported better productivity in workplaces that had strong menstrual hygiene management policies.
UN Women called for wider access to sanitation facilities to help bridge the period divide for women and girls.
They also called for better workplace policies that are inclusive of menopausal and menstruating women to end period stigma and discrimination.
