TSWELOPELE MAKOE
Johannesburg - A recent video of a Kenyan senator, Gloria Orwoba, being dismissed from a Parliamentary gathering has left a bitter taste.
The senator, who has been an advocate against “period shaming”, was asked to leave parliament after some MPs, including a fellow female senator, expressed their disdain over her stained apparel, deeming it “disrespectful”.
What is particularly striking about this incident is the lack of grace that was displayed by other women who may have very likely been in the same position. How this incident was handled shows a deeper tear in the gender dynamics of African people, particularly where women’s issues are concerned.
Many women, especially those of mature age, who had likely experienced menstruation in all its abundance, would presumably be the more compassionate constituents in such a situation, but this was not the case whatsoever.
The topic of menstruation is especially pertinent in the South African context, where a shortage of sanitary pads has riddled the nation, especially at the school level, for as long as anyone can remember. From an economic perspective, black children, and children of colour, are the most vulnerable to this issue.
“Period Poverty” refers to the challenges of females who struggle to afford menstrual products, access hygiene facilities and effective waste management systems.
Civil society organisations all over Africa have been advocating - socially, politically, and culturally - for the de-stigmatisation of menstruation, and the provision of sanitary pads.
A third of the school children in South Africa do not attend school when they are on their periods. This directly affects their educational journey, their economic opportunities, and their overall academic development.
This leads to deeper pervasive issues such as high drop-out rates, as well as higher rates of homelessness and mental illnesses. During this period, many are confined to their homes and ostracised. Many also don’t engage in religious activities, interviews and extroverted interactions.
Some of the ancient myths and tales around menstruation as unclean, dishonourable, and destructive do not help. To this day, the Bible misconstrued menstruating women as. “unclean” and contagious.
Misinformation and stigmatisation are huge contributory factors to the treatment of menstruation and women. This needs to be centred as a pertinent topic in our national discourses.
In South Africa alone, up to seven million girls cannot afford to buy or access sanitary pads. Fear of ridicule, staining, or a lack of resources is the largest factor affecting how women, and more so young girls, are treated during this time.
What is painfully evident as well is that older and mature women such as those in the Kenyan Parliament have bestowed the shame that is associated with periods, onto older and younger generations alike.
This issue is not a sentiment that is arbitrarily existent; it is extensively entrenched in our socialisation.
From a fundamental educational age, children are taught that menstruation is a silenced, concealed and largely prohibited topic. If history has taught us anything, it is that the absence of information often leads to misinformation. This is evident amongst young children in particular, who are continuously bullied, excluded or subjected to various forms of violence as a result of the stigmatisation of menstruation.
This not only shows a serious error in the way that children are being socialised but shows a fracture in the way that adults are socialised as well. Many male partners and some fathers are extremely opposed to discourses on menstruation, and as a result, create a toxic and hostile environment where female issues are left to the wayward.
Ultimately, the stigmatisation of women’s issues contributes deeply not only to our socialisation and the gender relations that occur as we grow into adulthood. but also to the mental health of many women who are both physically and psychologically affected by the stigmatisation of women’s issues.
Furthermore, many women choose to undermine and dismiss health concerns, especially those that pertain to their reproductive health. Some young girls who don’t have access to sanitary products use alternative methods that result in external and internal infections and lead to medical costs that many often cannot afford.
The lack of proper facilities for young ladies exacerbates the rate at which infections spread. Ultimately, young girls are endangered and increasingly vulnerable as a result of such issues. Many young ladies are subsequently exposed to abuse, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.
Thankfully, the digital world has brought about more discourses and engagements with menstruation as a central topic in women’s issues. Qrate ZA, IAMFORHER foundation, ZanaAfrica foundation, and Speak Up Africa are a few women’s continental organisations that focus on the provision of sanitary pads, and informative content on menstruation and reproductive health.
The challenges faced by women need to be grappled with more urgency. What is also striking about the modern South African context is the prevalence of condoms in public restrooms, which the government leadership has been critiqued for, but has so far done nothing about.
Although condoms may be necessary for curbing excessive rates of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, the failure of our government institutions in providing basic sanitary pads in public restrooms should be viewed as a contravention of young girls’ human rights, and a blatant disregard for female challenges and concerns.
Ultimately, our modern society is not only intersectional but also globalised. This means that pejorative sentiments about women morph into cultural, socio-economic, institutional and political sectors. This affects not only how women are viewed in society, but also their interactions in society.
This affects women’s ability to go to school, to work and to meaningfully progress. Furthermore, stereotypes about women that derive from negative gendered sentiments need to be deconstructed and obliterated. Periods do not make women weaker. Women are not inherently more emotional, despite having different hormonal balances to males.
Women who are menstruating should not be kept in isolation, and should never be shamed, especially not by another female. Women should not be stigmatised for being human, being natural, and embracing all that they embody. Educational institutions from a primary level need to more effectively address this not only from an educational perspective but also from a practical, behavioural and mindset perspective.
It’s of the utmost pertinence that there is a transformation of mindsets around women’s matters. A lack of sanitary pads, in reality, is a human rights issue. Transformation of the way we look at gender goes well beyond that of just women’s issues, but also an issue of equality of the sexes.
This is especially evident in many African cultures, where gender issues have been debated and interrogated, but still often times position women in remedial and administrative roles, rather than authoritative roles. It is an extremely recent phenomenon to see same-sex couples engage in lobola (bride price) practices or to see women in leadership positions during cultural processes, which shows an improvement in the openness of gender dynamics in South Africa.
De-stigmatisation, hygiene products and facilities, and education will be pivotal in the advocacy for women’s rights. This issue also speaks to the upliftment of the protections for women, both institutionally and socio-economically. We need to uphold the dignity and courage and self-assurance of women from an early age, and deep into adulthood.
Issues such as these widen the gender equality gap. Equality is not solely a women’s issue. It is a societal issue, especially in Africa, where women are still under-represented at every level of top leadership positions, including on the corporate ladder. African nations will not succeed without equality.
Womanhood is not this perpetual stigma to distance oneself from or to stand in opposition to. As a society, it’s time to rethink our solidarity with women, our openness to women’s issues, and our willingness to decisively act on these.
Graça Machel poignantly stated that: “The secret of overcoming Africa’s developmental issues lies in transforming the fates of its women.” Need I say more?
*Tswelopele Makoe is an MA (Ethics) Student at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at UWC. She is also a gender activist.