Menstrual Hygiene Management and WASH

 

Menstruation and menstrual practices are still clouded by taboos and socio-cultural restrictions resulting in adolescent girls remaining ignorant of the scientific facts and hygienic health practices, which sometimes result into adverse health outcomes. Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) is a critical aspect of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) service provision and needs to be considered and discussed in a sensitive manner with communities and partners. Talking directly with adolescent girls and women to understand their needs and preferences is essential if access to sanitation is to be accelerated on the African continent. Unfortunately for many women and girls, knowledge on menstrual hygiene is not readily available. While during menstruation, personal hygiene is a common concern for most women, menstruation remains a forgotten challenge to achieving improved access particularly for women. Knowledge on the link between menstrual hygiene and access to WASH is very low. The feminization of particularly domestic water supply (72 percent) has resulted in specific sanitation challenges faced by women left to women alone and out of the mainstream WASH agenda. The social restrictions that limit women’s participation in projects and the shame associated with menstruation relegate the issue to the closet. The challenges to bringing access of improved hygiene and sanitation particularly to women is more complex and requires further understanding.  There is a dearth of evidence on the challenges of menstruation and the role it plays on improved sanitation and health for women specifically.