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Managing menstruation in the workplace: An overlooked issue in low- and middle income countries
Open accessAbstract
The potential menstrual hygiene management barriers faced by adolescent girls and women in workplace environments in low- and middle-income countries has been under addressed in research, programming and policy. Despite global efforts to reduce poverty among women in such contexts, there has been insufficient attention to the water and sanitation related barriers, specifically in relation to managing monthly menstruation, that may hinder girls' and women's contributions to the workplace, and their health and wellbeing. There is an urgent need to document the specific social and environmental barriers they may be facing in relation to menstrual management, to conduct a costing of the implications of inadequate supportive workplace environments for menstrual hygiene management, and to understand the implications for girls' and women's health and wellbeing. This will provide essential evidence for guiding national policy makers, the private sector, donors and activists focused on advancing girls' and women's rights.
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“The menstrual practices of adult women, and girls outside of the school environment, have been largely neglected in research and programming [5,15].”
From The relationship between household sanitation and women’s experience of menstrual hygiene: Findings from a cross-sectional survey in Kaduna State, Nigeria. (2018) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“With the principal focus of MHM research centered on adolescent girls in school settings, considerably less attention has been given to women’s experience of MHM at other life stages, outside of a few key papers that focus on menstruation in the workplace and in emergency contexts, along with other types of vaginal bleeding [38–43].”
From ’It’s like a burden on the head’: Redefining adequate menstrual hygiene management throughout women’s varied life stages in Odisha, India. (2019) · cites this paper as [39]
In the citing paper
“Outside of a few key papers that highlight the menstrual experiences of women in the workplace, emergency context, or vaginal bleeding throughout the life course, experiences of menstruation among adult women and outside of school settings remains underexplored [38, 39, 43, 70].”
From ’It’s like a burden on the head’: Redefining adequate menstrual hygiene management throughout women’s varied life stages in Odisha, India. (2019) · cites this paper as [39]
In the citing paper
“Additionally, the limited availability of clean, accessible water and sanitation facilities in many low and middle-income countries augments the challenges girls and women face in conducting daily activities while managing vaginal bleeding, including participating in school or work, going to the market or fetching water.”
From Beyond menstrual hygiene: addressing vaginal bleeding throughout the life course in low and middle-income countries (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
In the citing paper
“For women living in LMICs, support and WASH services are particularly lacking.”
From Beyond menstrual hygiene: addressing vaginal bleeding throughout the life course in low and middle-income countries (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
In the citing paper
“There also exists a gap in empirical evidence on the impact of inadequate WASH in the workplace for girls and women experiencing vaginal bleeding,5 and on the violence-related challenges facing those using communal (and even household) WASH facilities when using outside toilets at night, or going for open defecation.37 38”
From Beyond menstrual hygiene: addressing vaginal bleeding throughout the life course in low and middle-income countries (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sommer, M., Chandraratna, S., Cavill, S., Mahon, T., & Phillips-Howard, P.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sommer, Marni
- ORCID
- Sommer, Marni
- Venue
- International Journal for Equity in Health
- Published
- 2016-06-06
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 86-86
- ISSN
- 1475-9276 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4895811
- OpenAlex
- W2418299377
- Cited by
- 254
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal for Equity in Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSTM Online Archive (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- Columbia Academic Commons (Columbia University)
- Funders
- There was no funding used in this article.
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Education › Gender, Education, and Development Issues
- Keywords
- menstrual hygiene management, workplace, menstrual health, adolescent girls, women's employment, low- and middle-income countries, water and sanitation, menstrual health policy
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Developing Countries, Female, Health Policy, Humans, Menstruation, Women's Health, Workplace
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