Menstrual health
Across Africa, millions of girls’ lives are being disrupted by their periods because they lack the products and information they need to manage their periods with confidence.
On any given day, 800 million people are menstruating.
But menstrual pads and information on how to manage your period are still not considered essential around the world. At Huru, we know menstruation matters to everyone… everywhere. And for a lot of different reasons.
Menstruation matters to:
Education
Periods are keeping girls from the classroom. Girls who lack proper products often stay home from school, and if they do go, they worry about leakage and hesitate to fully participate. Not to mention their school may lack private toilets, clean water, or disposal systems, making the routine process of changing a pad stressful. Quality menstrual products and sexual and reproductive health are essential to consistent, uninterrupted, stress-free learning environments.
Health
Menstruation is an integral part of the overall health and well-being of half the world’s population. Huru uses menstrual health as a gateway to discuss broader sexual and reproductive health topics including HIV prevention, gender-based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM), and more.
Environment
Disposable menstrual products are everywhere since the average woman will use over 11,000 disposable period products in her lifetime! That’s a lot of waste and can take 500 years to decompose. Not to mention in many parts of the world, finding a proper place to dispose of these products can be both challenging and dangerous for women and girls wandering at night. Huru’s reusable pads were made with sustainability in mind, and each lasts 24+ months. Better periods and a happier planet is a win-win. Don’t you agree?
Confidence
Something we know for certain from working in menstrual health over the past decade is that periods are often shrouded in shame and stigma. This is not unique to one country, region or continent. Period shame is a global issue; when menstruation is believed to be dirty, impure or shameful, it can make periods an isolating time, and reinforce harmful myths and taboos about periods and the female body while undermining equity in personal and public spaces. Confidence and embarrassment can be deterrents from the classroom, office, or public spaces.
