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.