Hello dedicated readers. It has been a minute since I provided my two cents on women’s issues that are important. I hope you have not missed me too much. To kick-start this month, we will talk about something that is very dear to my heart – Menstrual cycles and the awareness around it. 

Menstrual Awareness Week, celebrated at the end of May, holds significant importance in addressing the challenges faced by menstruating individuals, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds in Namibia. Despite some people finding the topic tedious, it remains crucial to discuss and raise awareness about menstruation as many women continue to experience oppression due to prevailing myths, stigmas and shame surrounding it. 

The primary goal of Menstrual Awareness Week is to challenge these taboos, and empower individuals to embrace their menstrual cycles without embarrassment or fear. Additionally, it serves as an opportunity to highlight the realities faced by marginalised individuals, and present the government with a clear understanding of the situation on the ground. 

Personal experiences shed light on the disparities in access to menstrual products. In privileged settings, schools often provide sanitary items to pupils who need them, along with painkillers for menstrual pain relief. However, this is not the case in many rural schools, where girls lack access to adequate menstrual resources. While the Namibian government took a step towards affordability by eliminating VAT on sanitary products, this alone does not address the larger issue. Many individuals cannot afford menstrual supplies, and face the difficult choice of purchasing food or purchasing sanitary items. The concept of period poverty arises from the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, handwashing facilities and waste management. In the case of schoolgirls, if the government can provide toiletpaper to schools, it raises questions about why sanitary items cannot be provided as well. It becomes essential to recognise the urgency of the matter when young girls miss school due to a lack of menstrual products, especially considering that the government has the means to address their needs effectively. As such, Menstrual Awareness Week is not just a time for discussions, but also a platform to shed light on the pressing issues faced by menstruating individuals in Namibia. It urges the government to take proactive measures to address period poverty, provide schools with sanitary items, and ensure that every girl can attend school without hindrance due to her menstrual cycle. 

* Frieda Mukufa’s lifestyle section in the New Era newspaper concentrates on women-related issues and parenting. She also specialises in editing research proposals, proofreading as well as content-creation. 

- etuholefrieda@ gmail.com