On a lovely Friday afternoon as the Sun was ensuring every corner of Maiduguri city knows of its radiance, Aisha Hamza* a 30-year-old lady was accompanied by her male colleague after closing from work to generously donate blood at a hospital for charity. While her colleague was waiting for her, Aisha was pulled aside for screening. After answering questions from the friendly nurse about her menstrual circle, she was informed she can’t donate at that phase in her menstrual cycle.
Aisha thanked the nurse and when her colleague asked her why they were leaving without donating, she openly informed him of expecting her period soon hence she can’t donate. As her colleague nodded in understanding, Aisha noted the disgust on the faces of the female health practitioners that were within hearing distance of their conversation, a look she believed was meant to make her feel ashamed or uncomfortable for disclosing her period circle to a man.
“The women in the lab stared at me with disgust. I was genuinely shocked, what is so strange about menstruation? Why should it be treated like a secret? Why is it considered shameful to mention it in front of a man?” she laments “These are health practitioners, by the way. If not because I’m well educated, my self-esteem and self-confidence would have been negatively affected by that” Aisha thinks women are still struggling on how to communicate when they are on their period.
To understand how the stigma attached to menstruation affects the confidence and mental health of women, we interviewed some young people across Nigeria about their experiences. While 80% of the women openly responded to the questionnaires, only about 40% of the men from our sample responded, where most of them stated they believe the questions on menstruation weren’t for them.
Zainab Isa, * a 30-year-Old living in Abuja stated that the first time she learned about menstruation was at school when she was in Junior Secondary school and while she has never been stigmatized on menstruation, she can faintly remember when one of her class mates was mocked and being laughed at for staining her uniform back in school.
Her story is quite similar to that of Mercy Emanuel, * a 26-year-old living in Borno who also first learned about menstruation in junior secondary school during a Home Economics class, said “At that time, I had not yet started menstruating. The topic was taught in class as part of our school curriculum. That was my first formal introduction to the concept, as I did not receive much information about it at home.”
Just that unlike Zainab who had not personally being at the receiving end of the stigma, Mercy uncomfortably narrated how as a teenager trying to understand the sudden changes of her body, she once started her period at school during a morning assembly and it stained her white underwear. “Because my school uniform skirt had a slit at the back, the stain was visible. Some students laughed at me. I was extremely embarrassed and could not even turn around to see who was laughing. My classmate, who was standing behind me, informed me quietly. I immediately went to the restroom to clean up.” It has been over a decade yet she classifies that incident as one that was very humiliating and traumatizing.
To assess menstruation knowledge and stigmatization and support the perception of adolescent boys in a rural secondary school in Nigeria, a research publication by AJPOJournals found that many boys had limited knowledge about menstruation and their attitudes sometimes included stigma or lack of support for menstruating girls.
27-year-old Ibrahim Zanna* from Yobe learned about menstruation in secondary school during his Fiqh class and had witnessed how a girl in his class was abandoned by her seatmates throughout the day because she suddenly had her period and stained her uniform during break time. “She’s outside and had to be rushed back to class. Everyone could see the blood stain on her dress and after the break, for the rest of the classes her seat mates left her alone on their bench and squeezed themselves in other students’ bench”
Similarly, Yahaya* from Bauchi first learned about the topic when he was 12 from his Islamic teacher at the Fiqh class and as a 27-year-old while supervising a program on mentoring adolescent girls on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), he first saw the impact of the stigma on the confidence of one of the attendees. “A girl wanted to ask a female mentor about the pain she experiences during menstruation. There were visible discomfort and hesitation in the environment, as the girl struggled to openly express herself at first” he recalls
The first time Yahaya was sent to buy sanitary pads for his cousin, he was reluctant and felt rather uncomfortable at the time. “It felt a bit unusual because men are not commonly expected to buy such products. However, now I buy sanitary products for my siblings on my own when necessary. I feel completely okay about it, especially because I work in an organization whose thematic focus includes SRHR. That exposure has helped normalize it for me.”
In a study done among adolescent girls in Kano, published by African Journal of Reproductive Health, many girls reported shame discussing menstruation publicly and believe it should be a secret. They reported fear of being mocked if their menstruation became visible which contributed to them having anxiety and reduced confidence while in a social setting.
While in some cultures a menstruating girl is considered dirty and prevented from engaging in certain activities like cooking, according to the teachings of Islam, a menstruating woman is prohibited from doing two major religious activities, praying and fasting, but due to the shame and stigma attached, many young girls have had to fake-engage on those activities despite knowing the rulings.
Zainab Isah recalls how when she was 14 and struggling with accepting the monthly price that comes with subscribing to womanhood, said “You know, it was just one of those times you get shy and clueless on what to do. We were meant to pray in congregation with my dad, all of my male siblings and I just wasn’t sure what to do as everyone would be available, so I joined” She laughed at the recollection of her experience “But after the one or two times I did that, I later realized how wrong that was and never tried hiding it again”
Mercy Emanuel being a Christian had no business hiding her menstruation for religious reasons, but the stigma is so deeply rooted that it had no bias toward the religion it attacks. “I have hidden my menstruation on many occasions. Even my own mother did not know when I started menstruating because we were not close enough to talk about such issues. I learned most things on my own. Whenever I complained of back pain, she would suggest it might be menstrual pain, but I would deny it because I did not want anyone in my house to know that I had started my period”
Back then in secondary school, while Tom Cruise was embarking on dangerous missions to save the world in his movies ‘Mission Impossible’, what Mercy and her classmates considered “Mission Impossible” was smuggling food and drinks to save the world of their Muslim colleagues that were on their period in the fasting seasons of Ramadan. “Many of my classmates would pretend they were fasting during their periods. They felt ashamed to be seen eating because others would immediately assume they were menstruating.” she narrated.
Dr Firdausi Muhammad, a Psychiatrist at Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital (FNPH) Maiduguri defined menstruation as vaginal bleeding which occurs due to shedding of the uterine lining, which is a normal biological process. She further highlighted that there are some cultures that view menstruation as harmful, or being impure and as a result of that, women are subjected to stigma and discrimination. “That stigma can impact the mental health in different ways like School absenteeism due to fear of getting stain leading to missing school during period, low self-esteem, reduce confidence in oneself, social withdrawal, anxiety and depression and to some extent use of psychoactive substances to cope with the stress.” She emphasized that Menstrual health is not only a women’s issue it is a community issue at large, and when girls feel safe and supported during menstruation, they are more likely to attend school regularly, participate in social activities, and develop healthy self-esteem.
Having endured the humiliation of being stigmatized, Mercy states that “Menstruation should not be seen as a source of shame. It is a natural part of growing up and womanhood. Young girls need safe spaces to learn and ask questions without fear or embarrassment.” and suggests that boys should also be educated so they understand and respect the process rather than mock it because normalizing conversations around menstruation can help reduce stigma and protect the dignity of girls.
NB: The asterisks indicate that the names used are not the original names of the interviewees
