Global champion for menstrual health and hygiene Angeline Trine Sig of the Real Relief Denmark has donated reusable sanitary pads with antimicrobial technology to needy girls in Shalom community slums in Kiserian, Kajiado and teenage mothers in Rebirth of a Queen Rescue Center to keep the girls in school.
The menstrual health advocate who was speaking during her visit to Kenya in her mission to end period poverty said good menstrual health and hygiene play a fundamental role in enabling women and girls to reach their full potential.
“The negative impacts of lack of good menstrual health and hygiene cuts across all developmental sectors. Real Relief takes a multi-sectorial, holistic approach by working to improve menstrual health and hygiene through innovation and technology globally,” she said.
In Kenya, women and adolescent girls use unhygienic materials to manage their flow. Despite the provision of Free Basic Education by the Kenyan government, many girls continue to miss out on education due to absenteeism that is related to reproductive health issues.
According to a 2022 study by the World Bank Group and Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership (GWSP), 65% of girls and women in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads because of the high cost.
The cost of pads has been a major barrier to girls’ access to education and has affected their self-esteem.
Another study carried out in Kenya found that 95 percent of menstruating school girls miss one to three school days.
The study by Winnie Mucherah and Kendra Thomas in 2017 titled “Reducing barriers to primary school education for girls in rural Kenya: reusable pads’ intervention” also indicated that 70 percent of girls reported a negative impact on their grades, and more than 50 percent stated falling behind in school because of menstruation.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, in a statement during The 2024 KCSE exams, indicated that the highest number of teenage pregnancies among candidates was recorded this year compared to the year 2023.
Public Health Expert and Menstrual Health Advocate Roisa Kerry says some pregnancy cases can be attributed to “sex for pads”, where young girls engage in transactional sex to get money for basics like sanitary towels.
Reusable menstrual products, including menstrual cups, period panties, and washable sanitary pads can help end period poverty and promote gender equality in many ways, including creating employment opportunities and reducing financial burdens for those sewing them.
Safepad is the world’s highly effective, reusable sanitary pad due to its permanently bonded unique self-sanitizing antimicrobial technology, effectively reducing fungi and bacterial infection during use and after washing, even if contaminated water is used.
Sig, who is the CEO of Real Relief, a company that manufactures and supplies reusable sanitary pads around the world, says period poverty is a major issue globally. The development of Safepad was about creating a durable, hygienic and economical product that offers girls and women dignity and freedom during their menstrual cycles.
Rebirth of a Queen is a survivor-led feminist and Community Based and Organization (CBO) based in the Kajiado North Sub-county founded by Pauline Akinyi Juma, a childhood survivor of sexual/domestic violence and childhood trauma.
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Juma says in Rebirth of a Queen, 80% of cases that they handle are of teenage mothers. They rescue girls and take them back to class. Since 2020, they have been able to rescue 285 girls and teenage mothers.
She says that the government should find a long-term solution to teenage pregnancy, that is by empowering teenage mothers, giving them the best education, and offering economic empowerment to the community they come from.
The organization has partnered with schools where they donate sanitary pads to a school every month. She says that sanitary pads in the country are expensive and the girls cannot afford them, which has increased period poverty in the country.
Akinyi said the government provision of disposable pads is not enough for the girls and doesn’t reach the right people and many schools do not get the pads, which is why they had to partner with learning institutions to keep the girls in school.
The Basic Education Amendment Act (2016) places the responsibility of providing free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels on the government to reduce the number of girls missing school during their menstrual cycle.
By Obegi Malack
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