Myths surrounding menstruation in Africa you probably don’t know

Menstrual Hygiene Day takes place every year on 28 May. This is because on an average the menstrual cycle for most women is 28 days and the menstruation period for most women is for five days. This year’s theme is “Periods in Pandemic”.

A lot of businesses and human activities have been halted in the past months because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, but periods do not stop in times of pandemics.  UNICEF said in a tweet, “Periods don’t stop for pandemics – it’s every girl’s right to manage her period safely and with dignity.”

On a daily basis, an estimated 300 million people menstruate around the world and being able to manage menstruation safely, hygienically, with confidence and with dignity is critical for their health, education, human rights, economic development and overall gender equality.

However, for many people in the African continent, this is not the reality. Menstrual hygiene is often seen as a taboo subject in many communities within the region. Menstruation is rarely easily talked about both in schools and at home probably because of some myths surrounding it.

Face2face Africa highlights some of these myths below: