Push to provide school-going girls with sanitary towels

AS MANY as eight out of 10 Gauteng school girls do not have regular access to sanitary products at school, and one in three pupils miss class when they have their period.

This is what non-governmental organisation Equal Education found in a survey of 232 girls in schools in three Gauteng districts.

The organisation wants the government to provide free feminine hygiene products to girls of schoolgoing age across the country, and they are not the only ones making this push.

The purpose of this project, explained Equal Education Gauteng head Zandile Ngubeni, is to audit the impact of local government’s programme of providing dignity packs, containing sanitary products, to pupils.

“We would like government to curb the problem of girls missing out on school because of their monthly periods by providing feminine hygiene products for young girls in township and rural schools who come from working class communities and backgrounds,” Ngubeni explained.

But it is not just the lack of sanitary wear that is stopping girls from going to school, the organisation found that the majority are absent because of headaches, cramps and nausea, which are not addressed in the dignity packs.

South Africa is not alone – Unicef estimates that 10% of girls in Africa miss school because of menstruation.

Currently there is no formal programme by national or local government’s to supply free sanitary products.

Department of Social Development spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant said sanitary products were distributed at a provincial level.

Besides finding that girls didn’t have regular access to menstruation products at school, many also said they had no access to these products at home.

“Of the girls surveyed, eight to 10 of the girls had no sense of what was happening to their bodies at the onset of menstruation,” Ngubeni said.

NGOs Dignity Dreams and Subz Pads believe the best solution to deal with girls missing school because of menstruation is to provide washable, reusable sanitary pads. Dignity Dreams provides reusable sanitary pads at R130 for six.

According to project administrator Lucille Herbst said they can last three years.

Herbst said Dignity Dreams has approached the government to suggest the use of reusable sanitary pads, but did not receive a favourable response.

Both organisations rely on donations and distribute to schools that are in need.

“If we got government involved it would be really great,” said Lisa Adlam, of Subz Pads.