28 May, is known as Menstrual Hygiene Day. This is because on an average, the menstrual cycle for a lot of women is 28 days and the menstruation period for most women is five days. This year’s theme is “Periods in Pandemic”.
Due to the current pandemic, lots of businesses and human activities have been halted in the past months and as UNICEF rightly said in a tweet, “Periods don’t stop for pandemics – it’s every girl’s right to manage her period safely and with dignity.”
On a daily basis, women menstruate around the world which in numbers, can be estimated at about 300 million.
They need to know how to manage menstruation safely, hygienically, with confidence and with dignity which is critical for their health, education, human rights, economic development and overall gender equality as rightly advised by Theodore Aidoo of Face to face Africa.
She however noted that, for many people in the African continent, this is not the reality. “Menstrual hygiene is often seen as a taboo subject in many communities within the region. Menstruation is rarely easily talked about both in schools and at home probably because of some myths surrounding it,” she wrote.
Reference: Face to face Africa -https://face2faceafrica.com/article/myths-surrounding-menstruation-in-africa-you-probably-dont-know
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