Daily Chronicle
In a renewed effort to bring discussions around menstrual to the front burner and part of activities marking this year’s International Menstrual Hygiene Day, school girls and female corps members in Bauchi have advocated for a menstrual hygiene-friendly environment in schools
In a sensitisation session on Friday, organised by Kairos Initiative, Al-Wadata LifeLine and Period Reality in collaboration with Attah Sisters Helping Hands Foundation, CARD, Rotary Club with selected girls from secondary schools and female corps members as champions of menstrual awareness, the Executive Director of Al-Wadata, Mrs. Winifred Yusuf urged the girls to see menstruation as part of what made them girls.
She advocated for focal persons in schools whom menstruating girls can talk to for proper education. She explained that many of the girls face stigma from community, schools and public places. She urged school managements to use part of the parents-teacher Association funds to create a pad bank where poor girls can benefit.
The organisations urged school administrators to provide functional Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities, and appoint a dedicated school teacher who gives information about menstrual cycles.
One of the schoolgirls, Abigail Johnson, who spoke on behalf of others said that government should intervene in regulating the prices of menstrual pads or subsidise it for young girls.
“This thing can be very traumatising when the society sees the period as a taboo. Where there is no proper privacy to change pads, it can be injurious to health and all these tends to discourage retention in school.”