By: Lalasa Koosongdham & Marisa Meylan
Despite numerous campaigns aimed at raising awareness and funding to address period poverty, it remains a significant issue affecting over 500 million women and girls globally. The lack of access to feminine hygiene products and facilities for managing menstruation not only poses physical challenges but also results in mental and emotional impacts, including missed education or work opportunities, compromised health, and diminished dignity.
The health, wellbeing, education, and safety of women and girls who menstruate are compromised due to inadequate supplies of sanitary products, insufficient menstrual hygiene education, lack of access to toilets, handwashing facilities, and inadequate waste management. While period poverty exists in both richer and poorer countries, marginalised communities, such as those living in poverty, homeless individuals, refugees, and girls in developing countries, are disproportionately affected. Shockingly, as many as 1.25 billion women lack access to safe and private toilets, and 526 million have no toilets at all.
In the midst of displacement in Rafah, women in Gaza are forced to use makeshift tents or scraps to manage their periods due to unavailable access to sanitary products during conflicts. Amidst challenges including limited access to food, clean water, sanitation, and electricity, approximately 700,000 women and girls in Gaza struggle to manage their periods with little privacy and inadequate access to sanitary pads, toilets, and clean water. In shelters run by UNRWA, the dire situation is exemplified by long queues for toilets, where one toilet is shared between 486 men and women, posing serious health risks. Despite their incredible resilience in coping with these challenges, it's imperative to recognize that it's a fundamental right for women to manage their periods safely and with dignity.
Facing displacement, many women in Gaza have resorted to taking period-delaying pills out of desperation. Despite the known side effects of these pills, more women are opting for them to avoid embarrassment and the lack of access to hygiene, sanitary products, and privacy. However, pharmacies and stores are experiencing shortages in supplies, making sanitary products and period-delaying pills in high demand and difficult to find. "In times of war, we are forced to resort to whatever means necessary; there's never a choice," reflects Ruba, a mother of four, encapsulating the desperation and resilience of women in Gaza facing these challenges. Additionally, most women are skipping menstrual cycles as their bodies aren’t receiving enough nutrition - this can later lead to bigger health problems like cardiovascular diseases or infertility.
Here is a link to help fund humanitarian aid and protection in the Gaza strip. https://crisisrelief.un.org/opt-crisis#:~:text=Donate%20Today&text=The%20United%20Nations%20and%20humanitarian,urgent%20relief%20on%20the%20ground.
Citations
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/05/my-period-has-become-nightmare-life-in-gaza-without-sanitary products#:~:text=The%20UN%20estimates%20that%20nearly,one%20toilet%20per%20486%20people.
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