Schools, boys urged to fight period stigma
The chairperson of the Oshikoto Regional Council, Samuel Shivute, has urged boys to support girls and understand their natural menstrual cycle.
During the commemoration of Menstrual Hygiene Day at Iipundi Senior Secondary School in Omuthiya on Tuesday, Shivute said boys often embarrass girls when they have their periods, leading to girls choosing to stay home and missing school.
Shivute said it also falls on boys to ensure that girls feel safe during classes. He also encouraged schools to educate children to eliminate period stigma.
"We must ensure that free sanitary pads are available in schools."
Thousands of girls suffer
The director of education for the Oshikoto Region, Aletta Eises, pointed out that a total of 40 381 girls in the region's schools face a number of difficulties during their menstruation, including a lack of access to clean and safe menstruation absorbent products.
She explained that some girls use old clothes, toilet paper and socks to improvise when they have their period. "In some cases, they even use grass."
Dr. Ndeyapo Nekongo donated 6 000 sanitary pads to the school during the event.
Menstrual Hygiene Day is observed worldwide to raise awareness about the stigma associated with the menstrual cycle. This year's theme was 'Together, we can make menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030'. The day aims to spotlight the importance of menstrual health, which must be recognised as the complete physical, mental and social well-being of women and girls in relation to the menstrual cycle. Menstrual hygiene is the ability of women and adolescent girls to manage their menstruation in a hygienic manner, with dignity, using clean menstrual absorbents, and having access to facilities for changing in privacy, as well as for washing their bodies and hands.
During the commemoration of Menstrual Hygiene Day at Iipundi Senior Secondary School in Omuthiya on Tuesday, Shivute said boys often embarrass girls when they have their periods, leading to girls choosing to stay home and missing school.
Shivute said it also falls on boys to ensure that girls feel safe during classes. He also encouraged schools to educate children to eliminate period stigma.
"We must ensure that free sanitary pads are available in schools."
Thousands of girls suffer
The director of education for the Oshikoto Region, Aletta Eises, pointed out that a total of 40 381 girls in the region's schools face a number of difficulties during their menstruation, including a lack of access to clean and safe menstruation absorbent products.
She explained that some girls use old clothes, toilet paper and socks to improvise when they have their period. "In some cases, they even use grass."
Dr. Ndeyapo Nekongo donated 6 000 sanitary pads to the school during the event.
Menstrual Hygiene Day is observed worldwide to raise awareness about the stigma associated with the menstrual cycle. This year's theme was 'Together, we can make menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030'. The day aims to spotlight the importance of menstrual health, which must be recognised as the complete physical, mental and social well-being of women and girls in relation to the menstrual cycle. Menstrual hygiene is the ability of women and adolescent girls to manage their menstruation in a hygienic manner, with dignity, using clean menstrual absorbents, and having access to facilities for changing in privacy, as well as for washing their bodies and hands.
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Namibian Sun
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