About menstruation with no shame and myths

Information against myths

When the students hear the word menstruation at the Health without Shame class, some lower their eyes, some start laughing, some are ashamed. But then, embarrassment gives place to the interest in an important topic, and the children begin to listen carefully and ask questions about their health and hygiene, and about prevention of bullying. The UNICEF trainers and partner NGO Girls observe these reactions in menstrual hygiene sessions in all schools across Ukraine, regardless of the  region and the sex of the students.

Before the first wave of Health without Shame training sessions, UNICEF and U-Report conducted a large survey among adolescents. It found that 91.2 per cent of girls believe that they need more information on menstrual hygiene and 48.4 per cent do not know what they can or cannot do during menstruation. This topic is also of great interest for boys. Almost 74 per cent of boys want to know more about menstruation.

Boys too

To leverage understanding of the topic and meet the interest from boys and girls, menstrual hygiene lessons were introduced for all students in Ukraine aged 10 to 17 years, without gender segregation.

UNICEF and its partners were among the first in Ukraine to launch joint menstrual hygiene lessons for boys and girls with an equal approach to receiving information.

“There are still lots of taboos, shame and myths around the topic of menstruation. This is because of lack of information and a certain degree of silence. This is why it is important to provide complete and reliable information on hygiene practices to adolescents who are just developing a level  of understanding of ​​their health. We always emphasize that these lessons are gender inclusive, and that boys should attend them as well,” says Tetiana Kazanzhy, a project manager and Communication for Development Officer at UNICEF.

Due to lack of information on physiology, boys may have gaps in their knowledge about menstruation. As a result, boys not only do not know how to support their classmates during menstruation, but even make fun of them.

According to U-Report survey, 45 per cent of girls faced bullying and humiliating jokes on topics of menstruation.

High school student Polina from Sartana village in eastern Ukraine says that there are real insults and misunderstanding at school. “Boys often joke about it and don’t take it seriously. Periods can be painful for girls, we can be stressed, and they laugh at us, and it increases our embarrassment,” says the 15-year-old. Polina hopes that after the menstrual hygiene lesson, the boys in her class will start treating girls with more understanding.

Polina’s teacher also believes that myths often emerge because parents do not talk about physiology and related issues with their children. “It is important for both boys and girls participate in those lessons. Parents are reluctant to talk about it. And here at school, children can puzzle out problems of hygiene as well. The days of gender-segregated education are gone,” says Yana Vasylivna, who teaches the basics of health in school.

Menstruation is natural

Sartana and the capital city Kyiv are almost 700 kilometres apart, but the problems of teenagers in these two very different locations are similar.

In a Kyiv school, Health without Shame class also begins with smiles and embarrassed reactions, especially among boys. But when the lesson is over, every student leaves with new knowledge and attitudes.

Eighth-grader Vlad says that during the lesson, he learned that girls need to be supported, and boys should show understanding when they are especially vulnerable. “I do not understand at all how you can make fun of this. It’s natural! I’m happy that the whole class believes this now, and no one will laugh at the girls anymore,” says Vlad.

The UNICEF menstrual hygiene programme for adolescents in Ukraine was also supported by P&G, which donated almost two million pads for UNICEF educational kits.  The P&G donation also aims to support girls from socially vulnerable families.

The first wave of menstrual hygiene sessions proved successful. According to the survey, over 90 per cent of the adolescents found the lessons interesting, and more than 25 per cent of adolescents improved their knowledge of menstrual hygiene. The second wave of training will commence in the new academic year.

“We have huge demand from teachers,  as they are the ones who deal with children’s questions on a daily basis,” says Yuliia Sporysh, a founder of Girls NGO. “And we also see how much the children need this information. Nearly 8 per cent of the school children heard about menstrual hygiene for the first time. We are pleased that the sessions are now working well for all  children.”

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