By Cloé Durieux and María Margarita Díaz

Periods and menstrual cycles have always been a taboo subject in society. Further, when it comes to climate justice, most people cannot make the link between periods (especially period poverty) and climate change. The two issues are related in many ways, but mainly in matters of health, sanitation, poverty, accessibility, and equality. Besides the many other obstacles that women face in our patriarchal society, menstruating is an underlying factor that makes women's realities more complicated in certain areas and contexts. It is not only about the physical aspects of having a period, but also about access to clean water and safe period products, as well as the emotional challenges that many go through because of it. Girls can miss school because of it, many are in pain when they attend, and on top of it all, they cannot be vocal about it, most times. This is why period poverty is a feminist issue, and thus it is connected to the fight against climate change. 

Since the beginning of a young menstruator’s life, one is taught to be as discreet and quiet as possible about having a period, regardless of the fact that 3.843 billion other people around the world bleed at some point every month. Even though the international community has worked to acknowledge the different attributes that women bring to development and sustainability efforts compared to men, they still experience lesser “economic, political and legal clout and are hence less able to cope with - and more exposed to - the adverse effects of the changing climate.” As the UNDP has stated, climate change is not gender-neutral, and many of the consequences that women experience because of its effects are heightened by stigmas and inequalities that are still very present in society today.

One of the most pressing issues between gender inequality and climate change is period poverty. The Joint Monitoring Program of WHO and UNICEF has developed a definition of  menstrual hygiene management (MHM), which helpfully describes the range of factors to take into consideration when thinking about MHM. This definition helps understand what girls and women need to put in practice to manage their monthly menses - colloquially known as their period - with dignity and comfort. 

There are, however, many factors that have to be considered in order to be able to obtain these comforts, such as accurate information and education regarding monthly cycles, hygienic and private sanitation facilities with clean water, affordable menstrual hygiene products, and positive social norms around the topic of menstruation. UNESCO accurately remarks that as long as menstruation remains a taboo and shameful topic that is misunderstood by both men and women, it will be very difficult to develop good public policy and practice around  it.

Period poverty is a global issue affecting those who do not have access to the safe, hygienic menstrual products they need, and/or who are unable to manage their periods with dignity, sometimes due to community stigma and sanction. It does not simply refer to those who have no access to menstrual products; in some cases, limited access to these products can lead to prolonged use of the same tampons or pads, which can cause infection. 

Around the world, consequences of period poverty can include girls missing school during their periods, which negatively impacts their access to education, serious health risks when people are forced to use dirty rags, causing reproductive and urinary infection, and a persistent feeling of shame and fear during menstruation cycles due to community stigma. As stated by Sanjay Wijesejera, UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: “meeting the hygiene needs of all adolescent girls is a fundamental issue of human rights, dignity and public health.”

Target 5.6 of Sustainable Development Goal 5, Gender Equality, includes the insurance of universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. This is a clear indicator that period poverty is an issue of gender inequality, and therefore an issue that the international community should aim to solve. Issues related to climate change make it more difficult to assess and find solutions to problems related to inequality, development, and sustainability. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C rather than 2°C above pre-industrial levels would make it markedly easier to achieve many aspects of sustainable development, with greater potential to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities. 

People in low-income communities and developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change, especially women in such situations. However, women play a vital role in natural resources management and in other productive and reproductive activities at the household and community levels. Research has revealed that their ability to share information related to community well-being, choose less polluting energy sources and adapt more easily to environmental changes when their family’s survival is at stake makes them effective actors and agents of change. Women are great agents of change and help entire communities adapt to new contexts!

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the way people manage and experience their periods. “Women have to choose between buying a pound of rice or a pack of feminine sanitary pads,” said Claudia Vidal, founder of the wordspoderosxs collective in Panama, as cited by the UNFPA. The lack of access to water, soap and products such as sanitary napkins, tampons or menstrual cups is a clear indicator of period poverty or menstrual poverty, and experts fear the situation has worsened during the last couple of years. The seemingly never ending cycle of connections between poverty, environmental degradation, and gender inequality plays a big part in today’s issues since it is exacerbated by the difficulty to access period products and basic necessities to go through periods comfortably. 

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), gender gaps are pervasive in all walks of economic life and imply large losses in terms of foregone productivity and living standards to the individuals concerned. Hence, non-governmental organizations and private companies have recognized the need for accessibility to sustainable period products. For example, in some regions of India where only 12% of women can afford menstrual products, the NGO Barefoot College offers rural women and girls education on reproductive health, menstrual hygiene and human rights and provides them with practical, hygienic, environmentally friendly and culturally relevant solutions to their perdios. Similarly, Days for Girls is an international organisation with the aim to increase the access to menstrual care and education by providing women around the world kits maintaining hand-sewn, washable sanitary pads and underwear intended to last 2-3 years, as well as soap and other hygiene essentials. 

Closing such gender gaps is highly complex and the strongest barriers are often culturally and socially deeply rooted. However, the benefits of providing girls with menstrual products and education can improve the lives of generations. Governments also have their role to play. For instance, in Kenya, period poverty is keeping one million girls out of school every year, according to the ZanaAfrica foundation. In response, the president Uhuru Kenyetta stated in 2017 that “free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels” must be provided to every schoolgirl.

Periods are natural. They happen to almost half of the global population. If we want to tackle challenges like climate change and gender inequality, we also have to have bigger conversations and dismantle taboos. We also need to make connections between things like periods and climate justice, because they are interrelated in many ways but not necessarily obvious to the wider public. 

Thus, we need to make connections and end the stigma. Period.