Examining Period Poverty: A Hidden Global Public Health Crisis in Latin America
Approximately 800 million people between the ages of 15 and 49 are menstruating every day. Some cultures even celebrate a girl’s first period. For example, girls from the Amazonian Ticuna tribe spend months learning about their tribe’s history, music, and beliefs when they get their first periods; it’s a positive occasion for girls to learn more about themselves and their heritage. However, this natural process is not always viewed in a positive light. Around the world, menstruation is often seen as dirty or taboo and is marked by misconception and intolerance. The global stigma surrounding menstruation leads to the issue of period poverty, or the lack of access to menstrual hygiene management (MHM) products as well as ensuing limitations to daily activities.
According to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 500 million people worldwide do not have access to MHM products. This is a dire aspect of sexual and reproductive health which generates a public health crisis that unfortunately is overall ignored by the international community.
Period poverty can include not being able to afford MHM, lacking hygiene products in public bathrooms, and not having access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Moreover, menstruators across developed and developing countries face barriers to accessing MHM, but the issue is especially prominent in the Global South, and Latin America is no exception. According to UNICEF, 43 percent of students in Mexico who menstruate prefer to not go to school during their cycles. The situation can cause up to five days of missed classes every month, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty and gender inequality in education. One study that evaluated data from fifteen research reports about period poverty in Latin America found that there is an especially large lack of support for MHM in schools. In school bathrooms, there is often a lack of clean water and soap to wash hands, disposable pads and toilet paper, and privacy. Many Latin American families are unable to afford period products, which leads them to use newspapers or rags that are not sanitary and can cause urinary and other infections, as well as breakthrough bleeding that leads to embarrassment.
As the world’s political, economic, and humanitarian crises show no sign of slowing down, the need for aid escalates. However, menstrual care is often overlooked when providing aid to migrants fleeing areas experiencing crises. Due to the Venezuelan economic crisis, over 5.4 million Venezuelans have left the country. Many of them now reside in the northwest Brazilian city of Boa Vista. A 2021 study examined menstrual hygiene issues among adolescent and young women ages 12 to 24 who were Venezuelan migrants living in this city. Supported by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the researchers sought information on the quality and availability of hygiene kits and toilets as well as their personal experience with menstruation. Researchers found that out of the 309 participants in this study, 46.6 percent did not get any hygiene kits during their periods, and 75.9 percent did not feel safe using any toilets. Additionally, approximately 34 percent reported to have never had enough pads to change as often as they wanted to, and in the lack of pads, these young women used unhygienic cloth and cotton. The findings also showed that these young women were ashamed of their periods, with over 50 percent saying that they were always worried that the blood would seep through their clothes. When the participants were asked the question, “how is menstruation for you?” answers such as painful, terrible, and uncomfortable were far more common than words like “acceptance.” These numbers show not only the lack of MHM and sanitary support for these migrants, but also the shame young women often feel while experiencing menstruation.
This study concluded that “it is necessary to assure appropriate menstrual materials, education, and sanitation facilities, working in partnership among governmental and non-governmental organizations to guarantee menstrual dignity to these young women.” One of the best ways to guarantee women the dignity they deserve is through education. One example of an education intervention is when Save the Children implemented a program called We See Equal order to increase knowledge about puberty in 5th-6th grade children. A study that evaluated this program focused on how We See Equal changed girls’ knowledge on menstruation in public schools across three cities in Mexico. This study found that after We See Equal, these girls were far less stressed about their periods, had increased confidence in being able to track them, and were more comfortable asking a friend to lend them a pad if needed. This shows how important it is that efforts are made to increase the population’s knowledge about menstruation and get support from schools through programs such as health education. By discussing periods in both academic and social settings, the current stigma surrounding menstruation will be lessened, and subsequently, access to MHM will be less of a problem.
In humanitarian settings, sexual and reproductive health is generally neglected.. However, period poverty is not just an issue of sexual and reproductive health. It is an issue of gender inequality, gaps in education and work opportunities, access to WASH, increase in general poverty for women, and many other issues. If the stigma and poverty surrounding menstruation were alleviated, the world would make huge progress towards addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4, 5, and 6 and making a more equitable world for all.