How women around the world manage their periods

Governments continue to ignore the issue and its associated links to women’s health, economic and social wellbeing

From menstrual cup to cloth, menstruation skirt or homemade sanitary pad, WaterAid highlights the many and varied ways in which women around the world manage their periods.

Millions of women and girls menstruate every month, yet governments continue to ignore the issue and its associated links to women’s health, economic and social wellbeing. Battling the stigma that continues to surround periods, women around the world look for their own solutions around disposal, pricing, health and comfort.

No woman or girl should have to manage their period without access to the sanitary product of their choice. Governments should play an active role in providing the infrastructure and knowledge needed to support this right.

At a minimum, women everywhere need clean water for washing themselves and any reusable sanitary materials, decent private toilets that give them the space, privacy, as well as access to adequate and acceptable sanitary products and disposal methods.

Yet, one in nine people don’t have clean water close to home, while one in three don’t have a decent toilet of their own.

Without these services, menstruation can affect women’s health and involvement in social and economic life, and thus their opportunities.

Within the communities that WaterAid works, we talked to women about their periods. The result is a revealing snapshot of traditions passed on from mother to daughter, as well as women’s own, often innovative, solutions.

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