
Menstrual Hygiene Day Celebration.
Menstrual Hygiene Day Celebration.
In commemorating Menstrual Hygiene day, the Family Life
Association of Eswatini (FLAS), through the Youth Action Movement (YAM),
donated 240 sanitary pads to young girls of Ndzevane High School. Part of the
donation were 63 dignity packs which were donated to over 60 boys in the
school. This activity is meant to break the stigma around menstruation and
empower young girls not to be embarrassed by having their period but accept it
as a part of life.
To empower young girls, common myths that were demystified included that: “when you are on your period you have started having sexual intercourse”, another misconception was that periods mean you are dirty and that women shouldn’t be around men when they have their periods. Men are not supposed to touch women during their periods and it is forbidden for men to carry pads or touch pads for that matter.
It was cleared that periods were a
rite of passage for all young women and it symbolized growth and maturity. This
was done to create a safe space where girls can manage their periods
hygienically and without fear or shame.
The crowd was helpful in pointing out the stigma they
faced from the males. They mentioned that boys use period stains to ridicule
young girls and that it that makes them feel ashamed of having periods.
The event started with a description of what is
menstruation and how to clean yourself and better dispose of sanitary pads once
you have used them. Questions from the crowd included that; “is it normal to
skip your periods?”, and the prevailing question was that “is it normal to have
two days of consecutive heavy flows? Periods vary between people, commonly most
women take five days on their periods but it is also considered normal to
complete in less than the five days.
These questions were answered by one of the YAM Member
Bandzile Dlamini who also headed the discussions. In answering these questions
and helping girls understand their periods the were observations made that
young girls are still not comfortable to talk about menstruation around boys
and speak about periods in general.
Boys were encouraged to familiarize themselves with
the topic of menstruation and what it means to women, as this does not only
affect women but men are affected by this topic too. Men are the ones who
perpetuate the stigma surrounding menstruation and young women get embarrassed when
they are on their periods mostly when they are around men.