Girls in Rural Uganda Turn to an Organic Solution to Navigate Period Pain

be artsy's Rato Baltin project uses culturally relevant education, menstrual kit distribution, and engages religious leaders to challenge discriminatory practices against those who menstruate. Since launching in 2017, the group has reached 80,000 people and distributed over 5,500 menstrual cups, while simultaneously helping shift perspectives around menstruating.

Drop-in Centers (DiCEs) in Kenya provide specialized, stigma-free healthcare to marginalized populations at high risk for HIV. These centers offer one-stop HIV testing, treatment, counseling and other health services. DiCEs operate with flexible hours, specially-trained staff, and a peer-to-peer outreach model designed to reach people who face barriers accessing mainstream healthcare due to criminalization, discrimination and violence.

In 2021, Scotland implemented the Period Products (Free Provision) Act to combat period poverty by ensuring free period products are widely accessible. While schools and some community establishments have successfully improved product accessibility and challenged period stigma, issues like poor awareness, uneven product distribution and insufficient resources remain obstacles.

The Pad-A-Girl project by the Citizen Participation Advancement and Awareness Initiative (CPAAI) helps those experiencing period poverty, particularly girls in primary and secondary schools and underprivileged women. CPAAI offers washable pads that are good for five years, installed pad banks in area schools and taught the women and girls how to create washable pads themselves. The program launched in 2020 and has since helped more than 7,000 women and girls across 25 schools and communities.

The Inspire Women, Men and Children (IWMC) youth empowerment group is teaching women and young girls how to construct reusable sanitary pads in an effort to address period poverty and prevent them from missing school and work during menstruation. The group follows up with students to ensure they’ve properly constructed pads with safe materials and also further educates teachers on how to provide support to students who menstruate.

Girls&More educates girls on menstruation, puberty and menstrual hygiene. The group travels to schools and throughout rural communities to talk to girls and provide them with sanitary pads and other resources they may struggle to access.

PLAN International is a global organization that works to increase the rights and access to gender-responsive, adolescent-friendly, and inclusive menstrual health management. The organization set up Pad Banks in schools and has also partnered with local advocacy groups to train and educate young women and girls on menstrual health and hygiene, all in hopes to address stigma, misinformation, and period poverty.

Since 2012, the government has required schools from primary to university to create a Girl’s Room, stocked with pads, pain medicine, a bed, soap and water for girls to seek refuge in during their menstrual cycles, in an effort to address the issue of period poverty. By the end of 2021, 2,046 primary schools across the country had established a room for girls, representing 55.4% of all primary schools in the country. Schools with a Girl’s Room have also reported reduced rates of absenteeism and dropouts.

A Nigeria-based NGO is setting out to address period poverty by providing those in need with reusable sanitary napkins and also teaching them how to make the products themselves, all while educating them on menstrual hygiene and working to reduce the stigma surrounding periods.

Tucheze Mtaani provides sexual reproductive health education support to young, school-age girls, specifically those in remote, rural areas where access to menstrual products and sexual education is scarce. The group provides educational resources, mentorships and counseling, as well as access to pads and sanitary supplies within schools to ensure girls feel supported at school and no longer have to miss days or drop out altogether.