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Period poverty is a silent affliction. Drowned out by taboos and dirty looks, menstruation, although something that every woman has to deal with, is stigmatized all around the globe. This is an attitude that has been cultivated since the beginning of time, and it stems from the idea of female inferiority. Even though society has collectively taken steps to reduce the levels of inequality and give women all the value they deserve, the topic of menstruation is a repellent that immediately hushes any conversation regarding equal rights. May it be because it is associated with the female reproductive system which in itself causes many awkward pauses in conversations, or may it be because it is dismissed as an unimportant issue, the fact that thousands of women around the world do not have access to basic sanitary products is efficiently and effectively silenced.
As previously mentioned, this is not a modern issue. Cultures all around the world have stigmatized menstruation as far back as literature is recorded. Pliny the Elder, an ancient Roman philosopher stated that “menstrual blood could turn dogs mad, wither crops and trees, and, if exposed to lightning, ward off ‘hailstorms and whirlwinds’. “ Periods are often considered as unclean, as a sign of impurity. In Ghana, for example, women on their period are not allowed to approach a house with a man inside or cook food. In Nepal, women on their period are isolated in “menstrual huts” during the duration of their cycle. During their period of confinement they are not allowed to have contact with other people, cook, read, given that menstruating females are dirty and “impure.” This is not only reflected in cultural customs, it extends to school attendance. In Kenya, an average girl will miss about 20% of the school year, given that she is expected to stay at home during the duration of her cycle. Similar numbers are reflected in Uganda and Malawi, given that 28% of girls miss school during their period in the former and 70% miss at least 3 days of school each month in the latter. Extending beyond simply missing class, in rural India, around 20% of girls leave school once they get their first period. When girls leave school, especially in developing nations, they become increasingly vulnerable to teenage pregnancies, early marriages, involvement in crime industries, sex trafficking, and other horrifying institutions that are built and organized in order to exploit women. Furthermore, as girls leave school, the economy is deprived of future thinkers, leaders, and problem-solvers, all because they did not know how to manage their period correctly. If taboo is reduced and societies open up to understanding what the menstrual cycle is and how to manage it, it will cause no inconvenience to the daily life of a woman. She can do anything and everything, even if she is on her period, but given the saturated stigma that overflows societies afflicted with low levels of education, girls believe that periods are an actual inconvenience, and they do inhibit them from leading a normal life. Nevertheless, Plan International UK states that “In Africa, one in 10 girls misses school when she has her period because of the lack of information and adequate facilities. The knock-on effect of this stigma is huge.”
However, it is important to note that this is not a problem confined to third-world countries. Plan International, a worldwide humanitarian organization, also conducted a survey in Ireland regarding period poverty, and the results were terrifying. The study concluded that 61% of girls have missed school because of their periods and 50% of them have had difficulty in accessing sanitary products due to their cost. The same study was conducted in Scotland in which 45% of girls reported using toilet paper, socks, and newspapers instead of using expensive sanitary products. It is important to note that sanitary products were not developed only for comfort— they are vital in maintaining hygiene and health. If menstruation is not taken care of correctly, girls and women are at risk of reproductive and urinary tract infections coupled with urogenital disease. Often, countries that do not have stock of female hygiene products do not have access to stable and efficient healthcare, thus when a woman contract one of the aforementioned diseases it often scales, given the lack of infrastructure to treat the conditions. Cultural customs coupled with inaccessible hygiene products leave every girl in an unfavorable and unsafe position. Due to their biological sex, they are already at a disadvantage socially and economically, and society often engenders and cultivates these inequalities.
Historically, before the invention of pads, tampons, and period cups, women had to be creative with their hygiene. Often, rags and paper were the only way that they could control the bodily fluid, and although unhygienic, they did the job. In the 1850s women used to pin cotton and flannel to their underwear and this technique eventually evolved into menstrual belts, cloth belts with an absorbent fabric. Nevertheless, these products were not commercialized until 1896 when the first pads were released to the market. Lister’s Towels were an utter failure, not because they were poorly designed, but because women were too embarrassed to be seen buying them in the stores. Furthering the problem, pseudoscientific claims started gaining traction in the early 20th century. The likes of scientists such as Professor B. Schick proposed the idea that menstrual blood was riddled with menotoxins —poisons— that caused wine to go bad and flowers to die. These toxins were not confined to menstrual blood, they were also present in a woman’s sweat, saliva, urine, and tears. This theory was later debunked, but in its wake, it fermented great fear and stigma that left women embarrassed of their natural condition. It was only after World War I that pads became marketable and available. French nurses invented the earlier versions of the modern pad in order to stay clean during their long shifts attending wounded soldiers. Companies like Kotex and Johnson & Johnson caught sight of the idea and began developing pads that could be sold in stores. Although these were important steps in making menstrual hygiene accessible to women, menstruating carried emotional stigma as well. Premenstrual Stress Syndrome is the formal name assigned to moodiness or sensibility that some women feel before they get their period, given the hormonal imbalances that their bodies are experiencing in order to prepare for the possible conception of a baby. This “syndrome” has often been used against women, labeling them as unstable, overtly emotional, and difficult. In an incredulous report in the Duke Law Journal published in 1983, PMS was described as a “form of legal insanity” as acknowledged by the English and French governments during the time. This meant that women who were involved in crimes could plead “diminished responsibility” because she was on her period. This idea was immediately accepted given that “PMS syndrome can range in severity from mild to incapacitating in both a physical and psychological sense” according to the publication. Perspectives such as these, unfortunately, did not stay in the 20th century. Women have to deal with period shaming on the daily. Former President of the United States, Donald Trump, often used period shaming to express disdain towards women. In an interview with Megan Kelly, a Fox News anchor, he implicitly stated that Kelly was overly aggressive with her lines of questioning because she was on her period by saying, “You could see that there was blood coming out of her eyes…blood coming out of her wherever.” Because of this, it is easy to understand why women felt so embarrassed by their period. Society made menstruation dirty, impure, and therefore made women so as well.
Notwithstanding the social and cultural implications of menstruating— despite around 50% of the global population doing so— the economic factors of menstruating have made basic hygiene products inaccessible to thousands of women worldwide, and Latin America is no exception. Claudia Vidal, the founder of WordPoderosxs in Panama said that in many cases "Women have to choose between buying a pound of rice or a pack of feminine sanitary pads.” This problem has become exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, given the closure of healthcare centers and the economic tribulations that come alongside the devastating global situation. Stock and availability of these products have also been reduced. As a result, the United Nations Population Fund delivered around 150,000 hygiene kits to women in 2020 during the pandemic. Period poverty in Latin America, however, long precedes the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the prime nations suffering from this predicament is Venezuela. The humanitarian crisis that resulted from political, economic, and social instability has left the country in ruins. Now, people can no longer have reliable access to basic necessities, and hygiene products are amongst these. According to Relief Web, around two million Venezuelan women cannot afford menstruation products. This is a result of the horrifying economic situation plaguing the country, in which a pack of sanitary pads exceeds 25% of a month’s salary. Access to clean water in the region has also been reduced—water being a vital part of hygiene and self-care— resulting in around 28% of schoolchildren skipping class. A family planning association in Venezuela called Plafam stated that 90% of medicine and healthcare products are in shortage. This, combined with the rising prices of menstrual products, makes it impossible for a woman to access and purchase the necessary sanitary products. Heart-wrenching testaments of poverty are heard throughout the nation. In an interview with Voice of America, Raquel Peres, a Venezuelan citizen can, “buy either pads for herself or diapers for her children; she chooses to buy diapers and handcraft her own pads” Further up in Latin America, a study by UNICEF in Mexico concluded that 43% of students menstruating would rather miss school. As previously mentioned, this not only has a devastating impact on the life of the student who is forced to leave school because of preconceived notions, taboos, and lack of access to sanitary products, but also ends up affecting society as a whole. Because of this, on April 28th, 2021 the House of Representatives approved the Dignified Menstruation bill which proposed free menstrual products around the country. This is an extremely important step in guaranteeing access to reliable and safe products for women. Similar movements have sparked around the world as the fight to eliminate the “pink tax” gains traction.
Only through the normalization of menstruation and open conversations, society can reduce the stigma surrounding this natural body process. Menstruation is something that every biological woman has to experience, and conversations regarding it should not be marred by awkwardness or stigma. Beyond reducing stigma, legislators and policymakers also have to realize that adding taxes and reducing access to sanitary products has wide consequences and implications, resulting in less education and opportunities for thousands of women. The solution to period poverty is a balance of stigma reduction through healthy conversations and active advocacy in order to make sanitary products more widely available. It is time to move on from antiquated perspectives that only continue to harm and oppress women. It is time to stop accepting theories and ideas that promote inequality. It is time to give women equal opportunities around the world, without any kind of exception.
Written By: Carolina Mejia Rodriguez
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