Menstrual health and girls' education
The Problem: Menstruation should never determine whether a girl attends school, participates in class or feels safe among her peers.
Yet in many Kenyan schools, period shame, limited access to menstrual products and inadequate water and sanitation facilities continue to interrupt girls' learning. Ending period shame requires more than distributing sanitary pads; it requires schools and communities to treat menstrual health as a matter of dignity, rights and equal opportunity.
Understanding the problem
A barrier hidden in plain sight. Menstruation is a normal part of adolescent development, but silence and stigma often make girls feel that it is something to hide. Many girls report shock, confusion, fear and shame when they experience their first period because they have not received timely, accurate information.
In classrooms, this shame can affect participation. Girls may avoid standing to answer questions, skip play and physical activities, or stay away from school altogether because they fear staining their uniforms or being teased by classmates. Research in Kisumu schools found that girls who lacked reliable sanitary protection were more likely to stay home or avoid school activities during their periods.
More than a missing pad. Period poverty is often reduced to the cost of sanitary towels, but its impact reaches much further. A girl needs not only a safe menstrual product, but also clean water, soap, a private and secure toilet, a way to wash or dispose of materials, and accurate information about her body.
Where these supports are missing, girls may resort to unsafe alternatives, experience discomfort or infection, and feel unable to remain in school. Kenya's Menstrual Hygiene Management Policy recognises that safe menstruation requires an integrated response covering information, products, water, sanitation, privacy and safe waste disposal.
The cost of stigma
Stigma turns a natural biological process into a source of embarrassment and exclusion. Harmful myths portray menstruating girls as unclean or impure, while teasing by peers can make girls fear disclosure and avoid seeking help. This silence has consequences beyond the classroom. Girls who feel unable to discuss menstruation may miss lessons, lose confidence, fall behind academically or disengage from school. In some vulnerable situations, lack of access to menstrual products has also been linked to exploitation and risky transactional relationships.
What Kenya has already put in place
Kenya has taken important policy steps. The Basic Education (Amendment) Act of 2017 provides for free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels for girls in public basic education institutions, together with safe and environmentally sound disposal mechanisms.
The Menstrual Hygiene Management Policy 2019–2030 further commits the country to breaking the silence around menstruation, expanding access to safe products and facilities, and improving menstrual waste management. A teachers' handbook also supports schools to provide accurate, age-appropriate menstrual health education.
Approaches that are working
Schools are uniquely placed to turn policy into daily practice. A period-friendly school should ensure that girls can manage menstruation privately, safely and without interruption to learning:
- a) Provide reliable menstrual products: Schools should maintain a consistent supply of appropriate products and avoid treating them as emergency-only items.
- b) Improve WASH facilities: Girls' toilets need clean water, soap, locks, lighting, disposal bins and enough space for changing and washing.
- c) Teach boys and girls together: Menstrual health education should begin before puberty and include boys, helping to dismantle myths and prevent teasing.
- d) Train and support teachers: Teachers need accurate information and the confidence to discuss menstruation respectfully and without judgement.
- e) Create safe reporting pathways: Girls should know whom to approach when they need products, feel unwell, experience harassment or face abuse.
- f) Review school rules: Rigid toilet-break rules, public questioning practices and poorly designed uniforms can increase anxiety and should be reviewed with girls' dignity in mind.
What communities are doing
Parents, caregivers, faith leaders and community health workers: These actors shape how girls experience menstruation. Open, respectful conversations at home and in the community can replace silence with support and help girls seek assistance without embarrassment.
NGOs and civil society: NGOs can complement government efforts by supporting menstrual health education, improving school WASH facilities, strengthening supply systems and engaging boys and men as allies. The most effective programmes combine products, education, infrastructure and community dialogue rather than treating menstruation as a problem that can be solved through pads alone.
- a) Ending period shame requires sustained action: The silence and stigma around menstruation took generations to form, and they will not change through a single campaign. Schools and communities need consistent, long-term engagement.
- b) Ending period shame requires coordination: No single actor can ensure that girls can manage menstruation with dignity on their own. The work requires schools, families, health services, community leaders and government agencies to act together.
A classroom where every girl belongs
Keeping girls in school means creating learning environments where menstruation is understood, respected and managed with dignity. No girl should miss a lesson because she cannot afford a pad, fear ridicule or lack a safe place to change. Ending period shame is not only a health issue; it is an education issue, a gender-equality issue and a child-rights issue. When schools and communities act together, they can ensure that every girl remains present, confident and able to learn throughout every day of the month.