Menstrual management: a neglected aspect of hygiene interventions
Open accessAbstract
Purpose – Effective menstrual management is essential for the mental and physical well being of women. However, many women in low-income countries lack access to the materials and facilities required. They are thus restricted in their activities whilst menstruating thus compromising their education, income and domestic responsibilities. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study describes the menstrual management challenges faced by women in an emergency situation in Uganda. Totally, 50 interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with women from villages, internally displaced person (IDP) camps and schools so that the menstrual management of the host population could be compared with the IDPs. Findings – This study showed that in IDP camps there was a significant lack of materials including soap, underpants and absorbing cloth, and facilities like latrines and bathing shelters. As a consequence women in IDP camps suffer with poor health and diminished dignity. There is also a lack of education about menstruation and reproductive health and practices are strongly influenced by cultural taboos. Originality/value – This is the first time that the menstrual management of women in IDP or refugee camps has been studied.
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In some studies, girls' post menarche and older women linked menstruation with reproduction but had other lingering questions such as why menstrual bleeding occurred.
“In others, girls’ post menarche and older women linked menstruation with reproduction but had other lingering questions such as why menstrual bleeding occurred”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
In humanitarian contexts, participants expressed that material provision was inconsistent.
“Similarly, in humanitarian contexts, participants expressed that material provision was inconsistent [15, 35, 83].”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Reading across studies, authors consistently noted improved confidence to manage menstruation when participants had access to preferred materials and environments, greater knowledge, and access to social support.
“Reading across studies, authors consistently noted improved confidence to manage menstruation when participants had access to preferred materials and environments, greater knowledge, and access to social support [10, 15, 34, 38, 41, 51, 56, 58, 64, 70, 72, 75, 79, 84, 95, 103, 104].”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Many women and girls struggled to afford their choice of material, some studies noting that the household frequently lacked money for basic necessities and that commercial sanitary pads were considered an unaffordable luxury.
“Many women and girls struggled to afford their choice of material, some studies noting that the household frequently lacked money for basic necessities and that commercial sanitary pads were considered an unaffordable luxury [5, 10, 15, 41, 43, 51, 64, 68].”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Women and girls reported genital discomfort, irritation, rashes, and bruising during menses stemming from the properties of menstrual materials or inadequate frequency of change.
“Women and girls reported genital discomfort, irritation, rashes, and bruising during menses stemming from the properties of menstrual materials or inadequate frequency of change [9–11, 15, 37, 41, 44, 51, 56, 57, 68, 69, 72, 75].”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Many studies that focused on girls of school age reported consequences for education.
“Many studies that focused on girls of school age reported consequences for education [3–5, 8–11, 15, 37, 39, 41, 44, 51, 56–59, 62–64, 67–70, 72, 75, 77, 79, 85, 87–89, 91, 93, 94, 100, 101, 104, 106, 107].”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Women and girls reported altering movement and participation outside the household during menses, as well as restricting activities such as running or playing sports.
“Women and girls reported altering movement and participation outside the household during menses, as well as restricting activities such as running or playing sports [9, 14, 15, 35, 36, 38, 41, 43, 44, 47, 51, 59, 62–64, 70, 74, 77, 85, 97, 98, 100, 103–105, 107, 109].”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
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- Authors
- H. Parker, A., A. Smith, J., Verdemato, T., Cooke, J., Webster, J., & C. Carter, R.
- ORCID
- Webster, James
- Venue
- Disaster Prevention and Management
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2014-07-29
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 437-454
- ISSN
- 0965-3562 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2039663793
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 2.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- Disaster Prevention and Management An International Journal (publishedVersion)
- CERES (Cranfield University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Conflict Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies and Social Issues
- Keywords
- menstrual management, hygiene interventions, internally displaced persons, refugee camps, emergency situations, women's dignity, menstrual health, menstrual taboos, reproductive health education, low-income countries, Uganda
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