Women are exempted from certain activities
Menstruation taboos can keep women and girls from touching water, cooking, or attending to religious ceremonies. These taboos reinforce gender-based discrimination, perpetuating the idea that the menstruating women and girls are unclean.
In Benin for instance, young girls believe that they should remain separate from their families during their periods, avoid certain foods like vegetables or anything with sugar, and abstain from exercise. Beyond the overt taboos, women and girls face stigma and ridicule that contribute to their exclusion from school and opportunities.
