Yet for so many, a natural biological process spells more than a monthly inconvenience. In some countries, menstruation is taboo or riddled with myths , and women and girls are excluded from daily activities because of stigma, shame or discrimination or because they are considered unclean.

In others, menarche may lead to child marriage or sexual violence because it signals a girl is ready for motherhood or sexual activity. Girls may miss school because they do not have access to sanitary supplies, they are in pain or their schools lack adequate sanitary facilities.

And more than 26 million women and girls are estimated to be displaced because of conflict or climate disaster, robbing them of dignity when they have difficulty managing their periods and exacerbating their vulnerability.

While some countries have addressed period poverty , or the hardship of affording menstrual products, more can be done, especially in normalizing something 1. Menstruation should not mean the end of rights to health, dignity and gender equality. We use cookies and other identifiers to help improve your online experience.

By using our website you agree to this, see our cookie policy. EN AR. Search Search. Main navigation Home Who we are. How we work. Throughout —23, Women and Gender Equality Canada WAGE undertook research and engagement activities to better understand the menstrual equity landscape in Canada.

This included:. Women and Gender Equality Canada WAGE would like to thank all people who participated in the online survey, meetings, and bilateral and group discussions.

What we heard from the consultations. The engagement process underscored issues under the following themes: period poverty, demand for products, access and product distribution, funding support, and education and research. Public opinion research. In March , Environics Research conducted an online survey with 2, Canadians to provide WAGE with a measure of awareness, attitudes, and behaviours regarding period poverty.

Information gathered through engagement activities informed the design of the MEF pilot, which centres on selecting one established national non-profit organization to:. WAGE launched a targeted call for proposals to solicit applications from five national not-for-profit organizations.

National candidates that were invited to apply demonstrated qualities that will support a successful MEF pilot, including:. The MEF pilot builds on ongoing work at the federal level to advance menstrual equity, including:.

You will not receive a reply. For enquiries, please contact us.

For some, these symptoms can be so severe that they miss work or school, while others are not bothered. On average, women in their 30s are most likely to have PMS. PMS may also increase as a person approaches menopause because of the fluctuations in hormone levels.

It is not really known why people experience PMS. Researchers believe it is because of the dramatic drop in estrogen and progesterone that takes place after ovulation when a woman is not pregnant. PMS symptoms often disappear when the hormone levels begin to rise again.

Stereotypes and stigma surrounding PMS can contribute to discrimination. The onset of menstruation, called menarche, varies from person to person. It commonly starts between the ages of 10 and In rare cases, menarche can take place before a girl reaches age 7 or 8. Menarche can also be delayed or prevented due to malnutrition, excessive exercise or medical issues.

It is hard to know the global average age of menarche, because recent and comparable data are hard to find. One study from found that 14 is a typical age of menarche. Some studies have found that menarche is occurring earlier among girls in certain places, often in high-income countries and communities.

However, lack of systematically collected data from low-income countries means that broader or global conclusions cannot be made. Similarly, it is difficult to determine the average age at which menstruation ends, known as menopause. Data from suggest an average age of around Menstrual taboos have existed, and still exist, in many or most cultures.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of menstruation myths and taboos, as well as their impact on women and girls. Menstrual blood is composed of regular blood and tissue, with no special or dangerous properties. Yet throughout history, many communities have thought the mere presence of menstruating women could cause harm to plants, food and livestock.

People continue to hold similar beliefs today. Some communities believe women and girls can spread misfortune or impurity during menstruation or other vaginal bleeding.

As a result, they may face restrictions on their day-to-day behavior, including prohibitions on attending religious ceremonies, visiting religious spaces, handling food or sleeping in the home. In western Nepal, the tradition of chhaupadi prohibits women and girls from cooking food and compels them to spend the night outside the home, often in a hut or livestock shed.

Similar rules apply to women and girls in parts of India and other countries. In one rural community in Ethiopia , the taboos about vaginal bleeding led not only to women and girls being exiled from the home during menstruation, but also during childbirth and postpartum bleeding.

Isolation and expulsion from the home are often dangerous for women and girls — and can even be fatal. For example, women and girls in Nepal have been exposed to extreme cold, animal attacks or even sexual violence. It is important to note that not all aspects of these traditions are negative.

See more here. Menstrual stigmas also affect how women and girls are able to manage their health and hygiene. Some cultures prohibit women and girls from touching or washing their genitals during menstruation, possibly contributing to infections.

In some parts of Afghanistan, it is even believed that washing the body during menstruation can lead to infertility. In other places, women and girls are fearful that their bodies could pollute water sources or toilets. These beliefs also affect how women and girls dispose of menstrual products.

In some places, women burn menstrual pads to avoid cursing animals or nature. In other places, burning menstrual products is believed to cause infertility. Some communities believe menstrual products should be buried to avoid attracting evil spirits.

Others believe improper disposal of these products can cause a girl to menstruate continuously for life. Many communities believe menstruating women and girls cannot eat certain foods, such as sour or cold foods, or those prone to spoilage. In fact, there are no medically recommended restrictions on the kinds of food menstruating people can or should eat, and dietary restrictions can actually put them at risk by limiting their nutrient intake.

This leaves girls vulnerable to a host of abuses, including child marriage, sexual violence or coercion, and early pregnancy. While menstruation is one indication of biological fertility, it does not mean girls have reached mental, emotional, psychological or physical maturity.

In rare cases, menarche can take place before a girl reaches age 7 or 8, for example. And even older teens may not be mature enough to make informed choices about marriage, sexual activity or motherhood.

Women may face degrading comments about menstruation affecting their physical or emotional states. They may be excluded from certain roles or positions of leadership. Women can also face stigma and mistreatment for not having periods.

These beliefs can adversely affect women who do not experience regular monthly menstruation, such as women who have irregular cycles and transgender women. These ideas are also harmful to transgender men who menstruate.

These men can face discrimination, limited access to menstruation products and poor access to safe, private washing facilities. Silence about menstruation can lead to ignorance and neglect, including at the policy level.

This leaves women and girls vulnerable to things like period poverty and discrimination. It also adversely affects women and girls with heightened vulnerabilities.

Those living with HIV can face stigma when seeking sanitation facilities, menstruation supplies and health care, for example. Those in prisons or other forms of detention may be deprived of menstruation supplies.

The menstrual cycle is driven by hormonal changes. These have different effects on different people. In some women, moodiness is a side-effect of these hormonal changes. Other women do not experience mood changes. While it is true that menstruation is experienced in the bodies of women and girls — as well as other individuals such as non-binary and trans persons — menstrual health issues are human rights issues, and therefore of importance to society as a whole.

This means that men and boys must be involved in conversations about gender equality and promoting positive masculinities aiming to eliminate menstruation-associated stigma and discrimination.

Period poverty describes the struggle many low-income women and girls face while trying to afford menstrual products. The term also refers to the increased economic vulnerability women and girls face due the financial burden posed by menstrual supplies.

These include not only menstrual pads and tampons, but also related costs such as pain medication and underwear. Period poverty does not only affect women and girls in developing countries; it also affects women in wealthy, industrialized countries. Difficulty affording menstrual products can cause girls to stay home from school and work, with lasting consequences on their education and economic opportunities.

It can also exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, pushing women and girls closer toward dangerous coping mechanisms. Studies in Kenya , for example, have shown that some schoolgirls have engaged in transactional sex to pay for menstrual products.

Period poverty is not only an economic issue, but a social and political one as well. For instance, some advocates have called for menstruation products to be taxation exempt. Such efforts in India have resulted in the elimination of tax on menstrual pads and tampons.

It can help women understand and, in a general way, monitor their fertility. For instance, many women regard their monthly period as an indication that they are not pregnant. This method is not foolproof, however, since even pregnant women can experience bleeding, such as implantation bleeding.

Some traditions offer menstruating women and girls a chance to bond with one another. Menstruation can also be an opportunity to take a break from regular responsibilities.

One girl in Rajasthan, Poonam, told UNFPA that she is happy that she is not expected to help out with household chores when she is menstruating.

While menstruation has been used throughout history to exclude women and girls from all kinds of roles and settings, there is really nothing that menstruating people cannot do.

Exercise, swimming, bathing, work and sex are all possible during menstruation. Menstruating women can — and have — competed in the Olympics, run marathons, traveled to space, held leadership roles, served as judges and held religious offices. However, the management of menstruation does influence what people can do; women and girls may prefer to go swimming when they have access to menstrual cups or tampons, for instance.

Menstrual symptoms can also affect what people feel like doing. UNFPA has four broad approaches to promoting and improving menstrual health around the world. First, UNFPA reaches women and girls directly with menstrual supplies and safe sanitation facilities. In humanitarian emergencies , for example, UNFPA distributes dignity kits , which contain disposable and reusable menstrual pads, underwear, soap and related items.

In , , dignity kits were distributed in 18 countries. UNFPA also helps to improve the safety of toilets and bathing facilities in displacement camps by working with camp officials, distributing flashlights and installing solar lights. UNFPA also promotes menstrual health information and skills-building.

For example, some UNFPA programmes teach girls to make reusable menstrual pads. Others raise awareness about menstrual cups. Second, UNFPA works to improve education and information about menstruation and related human rights concerns.

Through its youth programmes and comprehensive sexuality education efforts, such as the Y-Peer programme, UNFPA helps both boys and girls understand that menstruation is healthy and normal. UNFPA also help raise awareness that the onset of menstruation menarche does not signify a physical or psychological readiness to be married or bear children.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage , for instance, teaches girls and communities about reproductive health and the harms caused by child marriage.

Programmes to end female genital mutilation, including the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme to Eliminate FGM , raise awareness of the negative consequences the practice can have on menstrual health.

Third, UNFPA supports national health systems, which can promote menstrual health and provide treatment to girls and women suffering from menstrual disorders.

This includes promoting adolescent- and youth-friendly health services, which can help girls and young women better understand and care for their bodies. UNFPA also supports the hiring and training of health workers, particularly midwives, who can provide care for, and information about, menstrual health complaints.

UNFPA also procures reproductive health commodities that can be useful for treating menstruation-related disorders. For instance, hormonal contraceptive methods can be used to treat symptoms of endometriosis and reduce excess menstrual bleeding.

Last, UNFPA is helping to gather data and evidence about menstrual health and its connection to global development — a long overlooked topic of research. And a recent UNFPA publication provides a critical overview of the menstrual health needs of women and girls in the Eastern and Southern Africa region.

It is widely believed that intercourse during menstruation cannot result in pregnancy. However, this is not true for women and girls with shorter or irregular menstrual cycles. Non-menstrual vaginal bleeding may also be mistaken for menstruation, which can convey a false sense of security against pregnancy.

The only reliable way to prevent pregnancy is to use a modern form of contraception. No, menstruation in itself is not bad for the environment. However, products used to manage menstruation can have a negative impact on the environment, depending on the product and the way it is disposed.

Menstrual products such as tampons and pads often contain plastics and chemicals that are bad for the environment. The time it takes for them to degrade in a landfill is centuries longer than the lifespan of a woman. Menstrual products can also be found in bodies of water and along shorelines.

The manufacturing process to produce menstrual products also has environmental consequences. But in many places, alternative methods are not available or culturally acceptable. In all circumstances, the choice of menstrual product must be acceptable to the people using them.

For example, some women are not comfortable with insertable products like menstrual cups. In humid environments, reusable menstrual pads may be difficult to thoroughly dry. Given the potential environmental consequences of disposable menstrual products, it is important to expand the range of methods available to women, allowing them to make informed choices that fit their needs.

Use of highly absorbent tampons has been associated with toxic shock syndrome TSS , a life-threatening condition, but these cases are rare. Frequently changing tampons greatly lowers the risk of TSS. People with sensitive skin may have reactions to the materials used in menstrual products, such as the fragrances used in some pads.

In addition, many countries do not obligate manufacturers to disclose the ingredients or components of menstrual products, which could lead to women being exposed to unwanted materials.

Some tampon brands, for instance, contain chemicals like dioxins. There has been little research to determine the health consequences, if any, caused by exposure to these chemicals. Communities around the world are feeling the numerous and overlapping effects of the COVID pandemic.

These may have significant impacts on some people's ability to manage their menstruation safely and with dignity:. In times of global crises, such as this pandemic, it is critical to ensure that menstruating people continue to have access to the facilities, products and information they need to protect their dignity, health and well-being.

Decision-makers must assure these essential menstrual health items remain available. We use cookies and other identifiers to help improve your online experience.

By using our website you agree to this, see our cookie policy. EN ES FR AR. Search Search. Main navigation Home Who we are. How we work. Strategic partnerships. Corporate Environmental Responsibility in UNFPA.

What we do. Young people. Population matters. Information gathered through engagement activities informed the design of the MEF pilot, which centres on selecting one established national non-profit organization to:.

WAGE launched a targeted call for proposals to solicit applications from five national not-for-profit organizations. National candidates that were invited to apply demonstrated qualities that will support a successful MEF pilot, including:.

The MEF pilot builds on ongoing work at the federal level to advance menstrual equity, including:. You will not receive a reply. For enquiries, please contact us. What we heard from the consultations The engagement process underscored issues under the following themes: period poverty, demand for products, access and product distribution, funding support, and education and research.

Public opinion research In March , Environics Research conducted an online survey with 2, Canadians to provide WAGE with a measure of awareness, attitudes, and behaviours regarding period poverty.

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