Group demands menstruation cash

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HEALTH pressure group, the Community Health Watch (CHW) yesterday called on government to give professional women a menstruation allowance and provide free sanitary wear to school girls.

HEALTH pressure group, the Community Health Watch (CHW) yesterday called on government to give professional women a menstruation allowance and provide free sanitary wear to school girls.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

CHW trustee Fungisai Dube said this as Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world to commemorate Menstrual Hygiene Day.

The day is meant to promote acceptance of menstruation as a normal biological process of reproductive health. In many cultures menstruation is treated as something negative, shameful or dirty.

In Zimbabwe, women who have no access to sanitary wear due to its high cost are said to resort to unorthodox means like using tissue paper, pieces of cloth, tree leaves or crushed tree bark, with some school girls preferring to miss classes during menstruation due to lack of access to sanitary wear.

“Menstruation is something that should happen in a most comfortable way that is infection-free to women as it is part of our sexual reproductive rights,” Dube said.

“Women menstruate for approximately 30 years before they reach menopause and they would have used a lot of money to finance menstruation.

“We now need governments to support women during their menstruation by introducing menstruation allowances in their pay and ensuring poor women, including those in rural areas, have free access to sanitary wear.”

Dube said the high cost of sanitary wear resulted in women keeping panty pads longer in their body or using unorthodox means that exposed them to cancer and other bacteria.

She urged government to support menstruation by women in the same manner that circumcision for men is supported through funding and campaigns.

“The government seems to be taking long to act on issues affecting women’s reproductive hygiene, and yet there is a lot of funding being put on men’s reproductive hygiene like circumcision.

“We need support on menstruation to avert the spread of infections on women’s reproductive systems,” Dube said.

Gender activist and leader of the Young Women Christian Association Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda said menstruation was a blessing and gift to women, and it must be a healthy biological event critical for recreation of humanity.

“It used to be and still is taboo in many of our communities to talk about such issues of the monthly voyage to the moon publicly. Yet, this is an important issue for girls, as it impacts on sexual and reproductive health, education and relationships,” she said.

“It is sad though that because of poverty, many girls cannot afford decent underwear or sanitary pads and end up missing class or not playing sport.

“By the way, why do we still have these pads taxed as luxury goods in many countries? We need tax exemption for this none negotiable female commodity.”

Last year, MDC proportional representation MP Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga’s motion advocating for removal of duty on sanitary wear was adopted by the National Assembly, but government still has not removed that duty.