On May 28, the Day of Menstrual Hygiene is celebrated in the world. Another awkward occasion? Well, no. Taking a moment to think about the subject, we can quickly change our mind. Taboo related to menstrual hygiene of girls and women has an impact on many social phenomena.

Developing countries are associated with problems of lack of running water, access to toilets, lack of adequately equipped schools. Such infrastructural shortages, deepened by the social taboos associated with menstruation, have a direct impact on the fact that at the moment of reaching puberty, girls are pushed out of the education system or escape from it. The need associated with a sense of intimacy and minimal sanitary conditions and the stigmatization of the period does not give them a chance to participate in lessons. Why, then, are they being married at the age of adolesce? Yes, precisely because there is no other option for them and their families. Education about the period and availability of menstrual hygiene products could change a lot here.

From the position of a country lying in the middle of Europe, these problems seem to be very distant. It is worth mentioning recent research from Great Britain. As many as 1 in 10 teenagers and women in the age group up to 21, are unable to buy menstrual hygiene products for financial reasons. This is often associated with school absence. However, soon these funds will be available on the Islands free of charge in primary schools, and then their introduction is planned in secondary schools and colleges. Great Britain is a country with much higher incomes than Poland, so the results of such research in Poland could be interesting.

The international educational project PEN - Period Empowerment Network is implemented as part of the Erasmus + program and financed by the European Commission. The mission of the project is to gain knowledge about the health situation and menstrual education in the countries of partnership, exchange of experience, and ultimately to create a handbook for menstrual education. The partnership includes institutions from Kenya, Uganda, Sweden, Norway, India, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Belgium and the USA. Poland is represented by the  of Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu i Nauk o Zdrowiu in Lodz.

"As an institution representing Poland in the project, we will try to reach basic needs - primarily young people - in the field of menstrual education. We want to make the topic more common, "disarm social taboos" and draw attention to deficiencies in this area in the school education program, "says project coordinator Ewelina Goździk.
Project activities are planned for the next 1.5 years. Meanwhile, we encourage you to raise awareness of menstrual hygiene and health in Poland as well.

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