Ending period shaming

By Joy Jayesimi

The meeting was going smoothly, the Executive Director was around together with other colleagues, as we progressed into the nitty-gritty of the meeting, I felt the urge to use the ladies, as I felt my sanitary towel was full and I needed to change before I get stained, I hesitated hoping the meeting will end soon but it lingered and I was in so much discomfort.

Eventually, I picked my bag and  excused myself  to use the ladies,  a  colleague said Joy, ‘the meeting hasn’t ended, why are you taking your bag?’ I smiled and assured her I would be back shortly.

I picked my bag because I needed to change my sanitary towel as I was shy to bring it out of the bag. I started asking myself why should women be hiding their sanitary towel whenever there is a need to change?

Wrapping of pads in paper, polythene bags, tucked into my skirts or somewhere no prying eyes could see when headed to the ladies to change is a routine for women who experience their period.

In February, a Kenyan female Senator, Gloria Orwoba, was asked to leave parliament because of an apparent blood stain on her trousers.

Orwoba, said she had noticed the stain before entering the building and decided to still go ahead to the Parliament to drive home her message on ending period shaming.

Still in Kenya, in 2019, a 14-year-old girl took her life after allegedly being shamed by a teacher in class when her uniform was stained by her period, according to the Africa Health Organization. This is one out of many cases of period shame.

I cannot forget in a hurry an experience I had at a conference last year, I had the intention to introduce myself to a media executive, I had planned and rehearsed my line of conversation, so during the tea break, I summoned courage and headed to his seat, halfway across, a colleague drew my attention to the fact that I was stained.

I could barely walked back to the ladies, I was so ashamed considering the fact that the person who drew my attention was a man, I missed the opportunity to meet the media executive and I was sober throughout that day.

In Nigeria more 37 million women and girls of reproductive age, lack access to menstrual hygiene products due to a lack of funds, this is according to the former minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen.

Period poverty is real, so also is period shaming, about 24 percent of girls in Nigeria miss classes during their menstruation according to a report by UNICEF.

How can we contribute our quota to bring this stigma to a standstill? 

At the moment the average amount for a pad in Nigeria is N500.00, you can decide to buy one pad monthly and donate to that underprivileged girl in your neighbourhood. This way you’re bringing succor to that girl in need.

Mensuration is a thing of pride for every woman and girl, let’s support rather than discriminate, let there be a law that will mandate schools both Primary and secondary, hotels, worship places and offices to have Pad Banks, good toilets and water to enable women get pads and wash whenever the need arises.

Sometime ago, I was lodged in one of the five stars hotels in Abuja for a conference, the morning before the commencement of the programme, I noticed my period had started, I ran to the hotel shop to purchase pad, to my surprise I was told “we don’t sell pad” I walked for ten minutes to buy pad outside the hotel.

Boys should be taught the need to help and not to ridicule girls when they have period stains.

Period shaming and poverty is a huge challenge in our society, let’s all join hands to make the world a better place for women and girls and not contribute to the burden they face daily.