SEATTLE — When girls are empowered to learn, the world becomes a better place. Educating women and girls is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty around the globe: women will reinvest 90 percent of their income into their families, compared to 30-40 percent for men. Children born to educated mothers are more likely to live past the age of five and are twice as likely to attend school.
For every year of schooling a girl completes, her income increases by 10-20 percent. An educated girl is less vulnerable to sexual exploitation and sexually transmitted diseases. Educated girls also tend to marry later and to have fewer children.
Despite these statistics, over 98 million girls worldwide are not enrolled in secondary school. There are cultural, social and structural reasons for this, but one immense barrier preventing girls from receiving an education in developing countries is menstruation.
Once girls reach puberty and start having periods (the timing of which coincides with secondary school enrollment), absenteeism and dropout rates increase dramatically.
Often unable to attend school for one week every month due to a lack of sanitary products and clean facilities, it is a struggle for girls to finish their schoolwork while taking care of their menstrual health. The choice between pursuing education and having a safe, sanitary period is not one that girls should have to make.
To educate girls and strengthen communities around the world, periods must be normalized in order to stop menstruation from being a barrier to girls’ education.
The mission to educate girls begins with increasing education about menses. The link between periods and education is often difficult to discuss, simply because nobody wants to talk about periods. Without community-wide education about periods, harmful myths, stigma and silence result in girls feeling shame about their natural bodily development.
Experts find that by educating girls about their periods, creating programs that de-stigmatize menstruation and challenging myths can support girls to continue school once they receive their periods. These programs often involve boys, families, and even religious leaders.
To prevent girls from having to make the choice between clean, safe periods and education, access to sanitary products and proper sanitation facilities must increase. When communities and organizations discuss building schools and increasing girls’ education, menstrual health must be considered. For example, the organization Concern Worldwide and Charity supports water and sanitation projects at schools because they believe they are critical for attendance and retention.
Afripads has stated that sanitary products and sanitation facilities must go hand in hand so that students can not only have their periods without fear but also dispose of sanitary products safely. Having a clean, safe and private space for girls at school means periods and education can occur simultaneously, keeping girls in school after they start their periods.
Receiving an education through secondary school can be a reality for many more bright, hardworking young women if the connection between periods and education is addressed. The 98 million girls out of school could make an incredible impact if menstrual health wasn’t a barrier.
So many powerful voices and potential leaders are being lost. If girls drop out during secondary school, they have little opportunity to access higher education, earn better incomes, participate in the political sphere or understand the resources available for them to advocate for themselves.
While addressing the connection between periods and education is only one facet of the crisis of girls’ education, it would be a shame if the stories of millions of girls around the world asking for education about periods, sanitary products and clean sanitation facilities were ignored.
Deciding whether to prioritize menstrual health or education is an unnecessary consideration, and the barrier between periods and education can be broken. In an effort to educate every girl, there should be open dialogue about periods.
– Irena Huang
Photo: Flickr