Ever heard of Menstrual poverty?

The Struggle of Namibian Women

 

We all have heard about and seen poverty throughout our daily lives but we tend to see poverty as a whole and we forget that it affects us in different areas of life. Menstrual poverty is the struggle of many low-income women and girls while trying to afford menstrual products. Research shows that 2.4% of girls miss school when they are on their period. Not having access to menstrual products brings uncomfortably, averts them from being active, and puts them at an unfair disadvantage. According to Professor John Guillbeau from the UCL Institute for Women s Health, the pain experienced from a period cramp is equivalent to that of the pain from a heart attack. Not only do working women have to go to work in utmost pain, but our teen girls have to skip school unwillingly. This results in them missing out on a whole week of school. They miss out on 40 hours of school. In cases such as compulsory exams and tests, they have no choice but to show up with the most uncomfortable alternatives as sanitary pads. These can include socks, shreds of old pieces of fabric, and mattress pieces. These alternatives are unhygienic and hazardous to their health and can lead to urinary tract infections. This is only a fraction of the struggle that women have to go through.

I believe that a woman's menstrual cycle should be seen as a blessing, but the poor circumstances that we have in our country rob women of this precious gift. It is rather seen more as a curse than a blessing.

                  Do you think this is fair towards the women who carry and give birth to our                                    Namibian children? Feel free to share your thoughts 💛