August 25, 2021-- With evidence estimating that nearly one-fourth of the world’s women and girls face challenges related to menstrual management -- including stigma, privacy, and access to affordable materials—a commentary in JAMA reinforces the need to engage the public in understanding the importance of menstrual health. This includes sufficient funding and more research to educate young people, their parents and communities about the process of menstruation, along with the clinicians who serve them.
“A culture of silence around the issues of menstruation needs to be broken,” said Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, associate professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “Menstrual equity is a human rights and public health issue, with racial, socioeconomic, and sex disparities intertwined,” said co-author Diana J. Mason, PhD, RN, senior policy service professor at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, George Washington University School of Nursing.
Evidence from low as well as high resource countries shows that significant menstruation-related challenges are faced by schoolgirls, displaced adolescent girls and women, as well as women in the workplace, and many of these disparities intensified during the pandemic. Additional data highlight how those affected by homelessness face issues that go beyond access to products, and how they encounter barriers to manage their periods with dignity.
“At a minimum, access to free menstrual products in all public spaces is needed, as Scotland has done. In addition, attention is essential to assure all people with periods have access to safe, private spaces with water and soap for changing their menstrual products in comfort,” noted Sommer.
To promote menstrual equity Sommer and Mason make the following points:
“Women, adolescent girls, and all people with periods in the U.S. and around the world must be able to manage their periods with dignity and comfort, without stigma or shame,” said Mason.
Read the full paper and findings in JAMA
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the seventh largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu .
JAMA
10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.3089
Period Poverty and Promoting Menstrual Equity