From ‘Menstravaganza’ to Menstrual Hygiene Day

The essence of womanhood it is. Yet it came as a bit of surprise that last Wednesday was the very first time the world was marking it. As if that is not bad enough, the Day passed so inconspicuously that many the majority of women hardly knew it was their special day, the Menstrual Hygiene Day. A health journalist in Kampala posted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon that she had almost forgotten to wish her womenfolk a happy World Menstrual Hygiene Day. Another television health journalist, also in Kampala, took the reminder to her bosom. So, all this while we have been marking a plethora of health awareness days, and others such as the Women’s Day, but there has been nothing about a “woman’s pride”—menstruation—to smile home about? Indeed, the world had connived to maintain the silence on menstruation. Menstruation is a normal biological process and a key sign of reproductive health. It is the pride of every woman who has not reached their menopause—never mind the burden it slaps in their life. However, the irony is that in some cultures, menstruation is treated as something negative, shameful or dirty; something a woman should never let known. As the continued silence around menstruation combined with limited access to information at home and in schools to pervade the essence of womanhood, millions of women and girls have been left with very little knowledge about what is happening to their bodies when they menstruate and how to deal with it. For instance, a 2013 study by the UN International Educational and Scientific Fund (Unicef) revealed that one out of three girls in South Asia knew nothing about menstruation prior to getting it, while 48 per cent of girls in Iran and 10 per cent of girls in India believe that menstruation is a disease. Right in our midst, stories of girls using leaves, cloths, and other materials are commonplace. The world has just not cared enough to handle the hygiene of women in menstruation with the kind of togetherness we see in other spheres. About menstruation Menstruation is a womans monthly bleeding. When you menstruate, your body sheds the lining of the uterus (womb). Menstrual blood flows from the uterus through the small opening in the cervix and passes out of the body through the vagina. Most menstrual periods last from three to five days. The average age for a girl to get her first period is 13. This does not mean that all girls start at the same age. A girl can start her period anytime between the ages of nine and 15. Most of the time, the first period starts about two years after breasts first start to develop. If a girl has not had her first period by age 15, or if it has been more than two to three years since breast growth started, she should see a doctor. Women usually have periods until menopause. Menopause occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, usually around age 50. Menopause means that a woman is no longer ovulating (producing eggs) or having periods and can no longer get pregnant. Like menstruation, menopause can vary from woman to woman and these changes may occur over several years.