Thanks to the so much-needed noise around period poverty in the recent years, we are increasingly aware of the fact that, for many women, the sanitary products are not readily available. They are that expensive, and being unable to afford them is the source of shame and stress for many women and girls.Though, millions of women and girls around the world use other methods of managing their menstrual cycles as they are unable to afford sanitary products, they are thus in dire need of empowerment in menstrual health awareness for environmental, hygienic and disposal reasons.
Recent studies have showcased the myriad surprising, inventive ways in which women and girls manage their periods, by fashioning their own sanitary pads & menstruation skirts from unexpected materials. Though those might not be the women's ideal solutions, they do the job; while many are battling the stigma that continues to surround periods and menstruation.
We are advocating for period empowerment to ensure that women are not excluded from societies or discriminated against as a result of a natural biological process. They should not have to worry about where they might go, how they might manage their periods, or whether the appropriate facilities including running water and adequate disposal will be available and accessible.
The PERIOD Empowerment Network project seeks to improve youth workers knowledge, skills, and attitudes about menstrual health, hygiene and management as a means to increase youth knowledge about period and their awareness about female body, sexual practices, sexuality, etc. It is thus a unique and powerful menstrual health education project in empowering youth workers and building their capacities to continuously learn and raise awareness on menstrual health in their youth work.