Menstruation through the ages 

In Togo, 16-year-old Denise takes part in a project run by Plan International and wants girls to have better access to cheaper sanitary pads.

“If I don’t have enough money for pads, I buy a few of these reusable sanitary napkins that I can wash and dry in the sun when necessary. My wish is that the price of reusable pads be reduced. It is true that they last for long time, but they are too expensive for us.”  

Denise’s grandmother, Inna, has just been telling her how girls dealt with their periods when she was young. “On the first day of our period, we had to hide and call our mother or one of our sisters to help in secret. It was forbidden to enter the house.   

“The family had to find a room on the roadside where the menstruating girl had to spend her entire period. Then, the family alerted the whole village. For four days, from morning to night, the village brought food to the girl out of goodwill.  

“Men and boys, even if they were your brothers, were not supposed to see menstruation cloths,” says Inna. “It was forbidden, and we carefully hid them. Really, it was a great burden. I pray that your generation will no longer experience the suffering of our time.” 

“I understand that my mother’s generation also suffered a lot,” says Denise. ‘To my fellow girls all over the world, including those living in remote communities, I encourage you to stop being ashamed about menstruation. It’s a matter of rights!” 

“I knew that a girl of a certain age must have her period,” says 18-year-old Blanche from Benin.

“I learned this in the clubs set up by Plan International where they inform young people, especially girls, about their sexual rights, how to manage the menstrual cycle, and contraceptive methods.    

“It was difficult for me during my periods, because I’m afraid of staining my uniform. My school didn’t have toilets adapted to the needs of girls. I had to go home every time to freshen up, and several times I missed my lessons. The distance between the house and school is not negligeable and it was difficult to commute each time.” 

 

“The girls come prepared to school,” says 16-year-old Alma from Paraguay.

“Someone always has an emergency pad, but it’s kept and guarded tightly to prevent the boys from taking it out of the backpack and making it a subject of mockery, a situation that occurs regularly.    

“And that’s what happens sometimes, we don’t bring it for that reason. Because we’re embarrassed that it might be seen or something. Many times, the school doesn’t even have toilet paper to ask for.”  

Alma’s grandmother Maria had her first period at 16, and by 18, was already married. “It scared us,” she explains, “because our mother didn’t talk to us about that topic or show us anything. Girls were not allowed to wash their heads, eat watermelon, work in the fields or bathe in streams while menstruating.” 

 

 

In Burkina Faso,18-year-old Nassiratou doesn’t feel limited when she is on her period.

“Menstruation, in my community, is not considered an illness,” she says, “but rather a sign of physical maturity in a girl who is becoming a woman. In my community, a woman on her period who takes proper precautions can do whatever she wants and go wherever she wants.”   

For Nassiratou’s grandmother and mother however, it was a different story –  

“When I was young, menstruation was considered dirty and repulsive,” says her grandmother Marie. “A girl who got her first period was scared and frightened — she would cry. Her mother would give her a sheepskin to sleep on until the bleeding stopped. At that time, girls and women were isolated during menstruation because they slept separately on their sheepskin instead of sleeping on mats with other family members.”