By Casa das Mulheres da Maré
Since last week, a lot has been said about the importance of free sanitary pads distribution. President Jair Bolsonaro's veto on important points that would guarantee free distribution to girls and women in conditions of poverty provoked revolt in a large part of women and society.
According to IBGE, each year, about 1.4 million of women begin to menstruate in Brazil, as the average age at first menarche is from 13 years old. There are approximately 60 million girls and women who, for nearly 40 years, have had monthly encounters with menstruation and should have the right to access menstrual pads or collectors. This experience isn't just anything: when you don't have information, money to buy pads, sanitary towels and/or medicines, it becomes a terrible experience that negatively impacts the health and education of women and people who menstruate.
In Brazil, we do not have data on this topic, but in other countries, UNICEF and PLAN INTERNATIONAL UK report that 48% of British girls feel ashamed of having their period (UK), 71% of Indian girls are unaware of menstruation until they have menarche (India) and 20% of Colombian girls consider menstruation to be dirt (Colombia). Despite this lack of numbers, other data are important for us to think about the Brazilian reality: the IBGE says that 213,000 girls do not have access to toilets that can be used in schools, the majority being black and located in the North and Northeast regions. In a rare study carried out in the interior of Pernambuco, by Ana Carolina Pitangui and others, 31% of girls have already missed school as a result of menstruation.
Here, the House of Women of Maré has sought to better understand the issue from its front on sexual and reproductive rights. This understanding is being made based on data collection from the women who are assisted in the lectures offered by the House on sexual and reproductive health, which are part of a project that seeks to facilitate access to placement of IUD at SUS for women who bring this demand.
The actions of the House of Women don’t stop there. At the end of 2019, a conversation with the businesswoman from Maré and influencer “Boca Rosa” about entrepreneurship made it possible to bring the House closer to the menstrual hygiene agenda. She recommended Redes da Maré to receive 500 menstrual collectors from Fleurity. House of Women started to hold meetings with 8-10 women in different places in Maré to talk about and donate the collectors. They were also donated to staff and women who live in Flávia Farnese street. There was a lecture about collectors and menstrual hygiene. Other donations were made to women who attended the lectures on sexual and reproductive rights and had the IUD inserted. We recently received 50 kits of disposable sanitary pads from the NGO Tô de Chico, created by a couple from Rio de Janeiro. These kits were delivered to the tent at Normal Space and to the users of the House.
Having access to sanitary pads or other forms of menstrual management should be a right for everyone women. None of them should stop doing what they want and need to do because of menstrual poverty!
Rio de Janeiro, October 18, 2021
