Overcoming the taboo of menstruation

Finally, this post will touch on some of the programs that are trying to alleviate the difficulties of poor sanitation and consequently sexual harassment. The recent emergence of literature on the struggle of sanitation for women in Africa, which was previously neglected behind clean water, has promoted the development of sanitation facilities. This growing recognition should in turn help to lower sexual violence for women that occurs as a result of the journey to poorly safeguarded toilets, and further promote the education of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

In my opinion, the most crucial factor contributing to an improvement in sanitation levels in Africa is education. As I have disclosed in my previous posts, there is an unequal gendered attendance within schools due to the expected roles that young girls and women carry out, contributing to their time poverty. The inability to access education on menstruation and sanitation, along with poor facilities from limited water facilities, has promoted the prevalence of disease and a lack of self-dignity for women on their periods. For example, a study conducted in Gedeo, Ethiopia, discovered that 27.7% of high school girls interviewed did not have any information on the menstrual cycle, how to manage it, and the importance of hygiene (Belayneh and Mekuriaw, 2019). A separate study conducted in northeast Ethiopia showed that of the girls interviewed, 20.22% missed exams if they were on their period (Tegegne and Sisay, 2014). This leads to a vicious cycle where women with no qualifications are subjected to a domestic future. Furthermore, there is seldom the provision of adequate and safe toilets within schools alongside a lack of sanitary ways of disposing of menstrual waste (Sommer, 2010). In order to save themselves the embarrassment of returning to school after they have been unable to dispose of sanitary waste properly, there is a high drop-out rate for young girls in school. The taboo surrounding periods along with limited information on the menstrual cycle and poor facilities to accommodate reflects the discrimination that poor water sources can inflict on women and young girls. Hence, it is vital to improve education around menstruation to reduce the gender discrepancy arising from inadequate water sources. This has been addressed in Tanzania through the use of ‘menstrual story writing’ which engages young girls in education interventions to widen their knowledge of puberty and to recommend solutions given the specific context (Sommer, 2010). The success of this method led to the publication of Swahili and English-written book about puberty targeting school girls (Sommer, 2010). It includes individual stories of menstrual management and also advice on what to do during the monthly cycle, especially on how to dispose of sanitary products (Sommer, 2010). With sponsorship from Nike Foundation, 16,000 copies have thus far been produced and the ‘Tanzanian Ministry of Education is now approving the book for use in the primary school curriculum’ (Sommer, 2010: 275). Educational programs such as this has the potential to encourage participatory methods to improve the understanding of the menstrual cycle in areas where it is a cultural taboo.

A young girl with a reusable sanitary pad. Source

However, it is also important to make infrastructural and product improvements as heightened education on menstruation will not necessarily improve sanitation if there are no facilities to accommodate it. On an individual product-level, there have been a number of inventions to reduce the difficulty of poor sanitation facilities, such as reusable sanitary towels and menstrual cups, although the latter face cultural question (ActionAid). Reusable pads can be discreetly hidden at school until the young girls are home to clean them and spin-dry the pad with water facilities at home when they are inadequate at school (Slavin, 2015). In addition, better separate toilet facilities within school and within the community will reduce the threat of menstruation on female dignity and also of sexual harassment. The latter is a result of going to the toilet in dusk or dawn to avoid being seen due to the cultural taboos around menstruation, which are notoriously more dangerous times of day. Naturally, a greater number of toilets will reduce these issues as it will reduce the demand to walk far to reach these facilities. In Ethiopia between 2005-2008, the Catholic Relief Services helped to distribute 40,000 affordable ‘eco toilets’ which do not require water to function and further promote the growth of fruit trees through using waste as a fertiliser (Simpson-Hebert and Abaire, 2009). These are a cheap and easily constructed alternative to sparse and high-risk public toilets, reducing the risk of sexual harassment and encouraging greater sanitation amongst communities. Where open defecation is one of the most common causes of water contamination, an increase in the number of available private toilet facilities will reduce the spread of disease, especially for women who are responsible for water collection. Eco-toilets, such as Arborloos discussed above, can also promote sanitation and reduce the embarrassment young girls find when trying to manage their periods as a higher number of private toilets will allow gendered privacy. Yet, there still needs to be more consideration of alternative solutions as there is a reduced demand for waterless toilets due to the taboo around storing faecal waste (Jewitt, 2011). Nevertheless, it is a strong starting point for providing sanitation where flush and discharge methods are unavailable due to inadequate water resources.

The step-by-step process of an Arborloo. Source

Overall, discrimination through sexual harassment and taboos around menstrual cycles can potentially be reduced through greater awareness through education, a variety of new sustainable menstrual products, and environmentally-friendly toilets that can be distributed throughout communities. However, one of the challenges remains to be finding appropriate technology for certain cultures whilst considering the availability of resources.