Free sanitary pads,
menstruation classes mean Ugandan girls less likely to
skip school: research
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[December 22, 2016]
By Umberto Bacchi
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) -
School attendance improves when girls in sub-Saharan Africa are taught
about menstruation and given free sanitary towels, boosting their job
prospects and self-esteem, researchers said on Wednesday.
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A team from Oxford University carried out a trial involving 1,000
girls at eight schools in Uganda, providing girls in six schools
with sanitary pads, information on menstruation and a combination of
both.
In the largest trial of its kind, it found absenteeism from school
was 17 percent higher among girls who had no access to sanitary
towels or information about puberty.
"Many girls don't know about periods before they encounter their
first one," said Paul Montgomery, lead author of the report
published in the journal PLOS.
"They are totally unprepared because they receive no information or
training on how to manage them," he said in a statement.
Menstruation is still taboo in many countries around the world,
where it's often considered embarrassing or shameful.
Nearly 200 girls who took part in the trial said they felt more
ashamed or insecure during menstruation and around 140 girls said
they missed school because of it.
Many Ugandan girls drop out of school as they reach their teens, the
study said, citing national statistics that show only 22 percent of
Ugandan girls are enrolled in secondary education compared with 91
percent in primary schools.
Those living in rural areas are least likely to go to school,
official figures show.
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"Simple interventions like these can have major long-term economic
implications for women in low and middle income countries, which
socially empowers them," Montgomery said of the trial.
When 10 percent more girls go to school, a country's GDP increases
by an average of 3 percent, according to gender equality
campaigners.
Each additional year of secondary schooling leads to a 15-25 percent
increase in a girl's potential income, they say.
(Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Katie
Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the
charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news,
women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change.
Visit http://news.trust.org)
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