Periods in pandemics; needy girls' nightmare

Covid-19 has brought with it challenges fro needy girls who previously benefited from free pads until schools were closed. Most are now suffering.  PHOTO| COURTESY

Cindy (surname dropped) a Standard Eight pupil at a primary school in Kibra, Nairobi was a little worried about her March menses.

The 14-year-old hoped to receive a packet of sanitary towels from the school as the head teacher had earlier informed them of the upcoming distribution.

The school, however, closed abruptly soon after Covid-19 struck, throwing her into the anxiety of experiencing the shame of borrowing from her friends.

“Sometimes my parents buy for me, sometimes they don’t. It depends on whether they have money. When they don’t, I plead with my friends to lend me,” she says.

In the prevailing Covid-19 disruptions straining household income, chances of her getting menstrual products from her parents are thinner.

Her mother, Ms Musa hawks chips (French fries) in Kibra. She says the burden of raising her seven-member family falls on her. Her husband lost his waiter job at a Nairobi restaurant soon after Covid-19 was reported in the country.

SPIRAL EFFECT

“I would wish to buy my daughter the pads but having an extra Sh50 right now is a tough challenge,” she says.

Luckily, her daughter Cindy, is among the girls who have received free pads from a local community organisation seeking to cushion girls from the spiral effects of the pandemic. Between March and April, she received seven packets of pads.

Ms Musa says: “It is such a relief my daughter has enough to last her two or three more months. I hope we will have more donations by the time she finishes them.”

Under the Ministry of Education’s sanitary towels distribution program, girls receive at least two packets containing eight pads each.

However with closure of schools, girls like Cindy are unlikely to receive any in the near future. The government is preoccupied with schools reopening, putting girls at the risk of using unhygienic alternatives or trading sex for the commodities.

Ms Yasmin Nassur is the founder Superb, the organisation distributing sanitary towels to vulnerable girls, with Cindy being one of the 70 girls who have benefitted since Covid-19 outbreak.

Her organisation is one of the youth networks under Amref Health Africa distributing 16,000 sanitary towels to 5,333 vulnerable girls and women in Nairobi, Kilifi, Samburu and Kisumu.

VULNERABILITY

Ms Nassur says Covid-19 predisposes girls to sexual exploitation to meet their needs including pads, noting that it is important to provide emergency support to protect their lives and safeguard their dignity.

In selecting the beneficiaries, she considers their level of vulnerability.

“I give priority to households with four girls menstruating. Single parent families, orphans, child headed families and school going children,” she explains.

In the last three weeks, she has also received food donations benefitting 300 households and women running micro-businesses.

Last week, for instance, she received 45 sacks of Irish potatoes, 200 bunches of spinach and kales alongside 50 pieces of cabbage from farm to feed organisation, which she distributed to 100 households.

Out of the 45 sacks of Irish potatoes, she donated three to women running groceries and fast food business in Kibra with Cindy’s mother being one of them.

“A combination of pads and food eliminates opportunities for sexual exploitation. It ensures girls have something to eat in addition to having adequate pads,” she says.

In Mombasa, a lobby group has asked the government to establish programs for distribution of sanitary towels to girls in informal settlements. Stretchers Youth Organization director, Dickson Okong'o says focus on Covid-19 has relegated challenges girls face in accessing menstrual hygiene items.

LOST INCOME

He noted that even pre-Covid-19, many girls from these settlements struggled to get sanitary products.

“Many families in the slums have lost income opportunities and do not consider sanitary towels an important commodity,” Mr Okong'o said, “This has forced girls to use pieces of cloths and other indecent materials during menstruation.”

He urged the governmental and private organizations to prioritise health and menstruation by supporting needy girls with sanitary towels.

“Small groups that previously made reusable sanitary towels shifted their focus to the production of face masks,” he lamented.

Mr Okong'o said many girls could end up engaging in unhealthy behaviour to get sanitary towels and that talk to young people through social media about menstruation.  

The lobby group has partnered with community health officials to train people on Covid-19 prevention.

Director of communications in Mombasa County Mr Mudathir Ahmed said that among the items in the Covid-19 care packs the county issues in its emergency household relief and nutrition support project were two packets of sanitary towels.

“The Department of Youth and Gender distributed them to schools before they were closed, but now we include them in the care packs,” said Mr Ahmed.

How governments’ across the world are responding to the menstrual hygiene needs of women and girls during the Covid-19 pandemic is the highlight of this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day themed Periods in Pandemics

Throughout the globe, women and girls rights activists are asking governments to integrate sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls in Covid-19 responses.

For Kenya, based on data from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), at least 2.6 million girls currently need menstrual hygiene materials - pads, underwear and soap.

In April, women rights organisations in Kenya petitioned the government to spend at least 30 per cent share of Covid-19 funds on gender responsive strategies in containing Covid-19 including distributing cash relief, food and sanitary towels to the vulnerable women and girls.

The organisations which included Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (Creaw), Fida-Kenya and Coalition on Violence against Women-Kenya, Covaw (K) noted that the pandemic had worsened pre-existing conditions propagating exploitation and violence against women and girls.