School girls in the tight grip of period poverty in Tana River

Menstruation causes approximately a million school-going girls to miss several days of school each month. [iStockphoto]

Aisha Kolombo, 18 (not her real name), is a Grade Seven student at Hatata Primary School in Mororo slums of Tana River County. Every month, she misses four school days because she lacks access to sanitary towels during her menstruation.

“Inability to afford pads during ‘the curse’ keeps me out of school, which greatly affects my class work,” Aisha shares candidly.

A survey by Tana Smart reveals that the poverty rate in the county stands at 53 per cent, with over 65 per cent of Kenyan women unable to afford sanitary towels. Aisha’s plight mirrors that of an estimated 500 million women and girls worldwide who face “period poverty.”

Menstruation disrupts the education and livelihoods of countless girls in Aisha’s age group and beyond. Mohamed Lokha, a leading opinion leader in Mororo, notes, “This is why Aisha is still in primary school as her 20th birthday approaches.”

“Period poverty forces many girls to drop out of school and often pushes them into early marriages,” Lokha revealed.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reports that out of Kenya’s estimated 54 million citizens, over 1.2 million primary school-aged children are not attending school.

Compounding this challenge, menstruation causes approximately a million school-going girls to miss several days of school each month.

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Aisha, despite her love for school, has struggled with improvised solutions that are far from ideal. In lower grades, she shared non-reusable pads with classmates.

“My teacher warned us it was dangerously unhygienic, and we risked infections,” Aisha recalls with sadness and fear of the unknown.

Faced with no other options, she eventually resorted to skipping school altogether during her periods, joining the over one million Kenyan schoolgirls who miss up to four school days every month due to menstruation.

Regrettably, inadequately supported girls attending school during their menstrual cycles often face teasing and taunting from both boys and girls.

A report highlights that sanitary pads—made with absorbent material and leakproof polypropylene—are essential for menstrual hygiene.

However, many girls without access to these resort to using unhygienic materials such as old blankets, plants, leaves, or even sitting on sand. This exposes them to both health risks and the ridicule of an indifferent society. Poor menstrual hygiene leads to stigma and isolation, even among peers.

“While determined girls like Aisha might switch schools to escape the teasing, others, discouraged by the shame, drop out altogether,” says Hassan Ibrahim, Womankind Kenya’s Education Officer. “Many then turn to child marriage, fall into early pregnancies driven by peer pressure and idleness, or engage in risky sexual behavior.”

Tragically, some girls end up in the sex trade, Ibrahim adds. He cites a report revealing that two out of three rural Kenyan girls who use sanitary pads acquire them through sexual partnerships.

“That said, most rural residents in the pastoralist, arid north tend to avoid using protection during sexual activity,” says Hassan.

He explains: “There’s a vivid but misleading belief that frequent prayers grant immunity from sexually transmitted diseases. Unfortunately, they often realize too late that prayers alone can’t shield them,” scoffs Hassan, emphasizing that health education is essential.

Young girls attending school in Tana County face a difficult choice: either risk their education or endanger their health with ailments and unprepared early marriages. These unions often derail into separation, as young girls are unable to cope with the biological and emotional demands of marriage.

The grim statistics in Tana County tell a troubling story. Among its 315,000 residents, 86,907 are school-aged children, but only 51,789 attend the 167 primary schools available.

Lokha notes that a box of six sanitary pads costs about Sh200, a sum unaffordable for families relying on casual, unreliable work that earns less than that amount daily. “It’s often a choice between buying pads, food, or even miraa,” he laments.

“Here, poverty, food insecurity, miraa chewing, and other drug habits lock the majority of girls out of accessing sanitary products, especially in remote areas where pads are sold at a premium in rural shops,” adds social worker Beatrice Mutinga. Students in informal settlements face multiple challenges, including lack of access to sanitary towels and unhygienic conditions like open drains, stagnant water, and poor sewer systems. These issues, worsened by flash floods and droughts, increase health risks, explains Mutinga.

Yasmin Kulow, 15, Aisha’s classmate, considers herself lucky that her father, a struggling tailor, makes her reusable pads from discarded fabric. However, these homemade pads are leaky, uncomfortable, and unhygienic. “They aren’t breathable, and we can’t change them regularly,” Yasmin admits.

Mutinga highlights that Kibera, Kenya’s largest informal settlement, suffers from severe menstrual health gaps, while Tana County’s arid climate and water scarcity worsen the issue. She stresses that access to affordable sanitary pads could reduce risks like infections, teen pregnancy, and poor reproductive health outcomes.

Statistics reveal that one million Kenyan girls miss school monthly due to lack of sanitary pads. The Ministry of Education notes that menstruation causes girls to lose about two weeks of school per term.

Research shows 65% of Kenyan women cannot afford sanitary pads, with Tana reporting a 40% dropout rate and a 48 per centsecondary school transition rate. Hassan Ibrahim emphasizes the need for affordable pads, particularly in northern Kenya, to combat period poverty and improve education outcomes.