Menstruation is not just a girls’ issue; it’s a National Responsibility

By Luke Twesigye

Every year, Menstrual Hygiene Day (28th May) reminds us of a simple but powerful truth: menstruation is natural, normal, and should never be a source of shame. Yet for millions of girls and women across Uganda and East Africa, menstruation remains surrounded by silence, stigma, discrimination, and inequality. Far too often, periods are treated as “women’s issues” instead of a collective social responsibility requiring action from families, schools, communities, institutions, and governments.

If we are serious about creating a just and equal society, then menstrual health and hygiene must become everybody’s business.

Across districts like Iganga and Bugiri in Eastern Uganda, many adolescent girls continue to face enormous barriers during menstruation. In schools and communities, girls report lack of sanitary products, inadequate water and sanitation facilities, teasing from boys, menstrual pain, and fear of staining their clothes. These challenges directly affect school attendance, confidence, participation, and mental well-being.

Research in Uganda shows that menstruation significantly contributes to school absenteeism among adolescent girls. A study conducted in Ugandan secondary schools found that nearly 20% of girls missed school during their most recent menstrual period, while school absence was reported on 28% of period days compared to 7% of non-period days. Another study noted that only about 10% of adolescent girls in Uganda practice adequate menstrual hygiene management, and many girls miss learning time because of inadequate support systems.

These statistics reflect realities that are painfully familiar in communities across Iganga and Bugiri. Many girls still improvise with old cloth, tissue paper, or other unsafe materials because sanitary products are unaffordable. Some schools lack private changing rooms, clean water, soap, or disposal facilities. Others have no supportive environment for girls experiencing menstrual pain or emergencies. As a result, many girls stay home, lose concentration in class, or eventually disengage from education altogether.

But menstrual health is not only about pads and facilities. It is deeply connected to dignity, gender equality, education, health, and human rights.

Importantly, menstruation also affects boys and men, even though they do not menstruate biologically. Many boys grow up with little or no accurate information about periods, which often leads to fear, teasing, stigma, and harmful attitudes toward girls. In schools, some boys mock girls who stain their uniforms or experience menstrual discomfort, creating shame and emotional distress that negatively affects learning environments for everyone. This reinforces harmful masculinities and weakens healthy relationships between boys and girls.

Men and boys are also affected as fathers, brothers, teachers, partners, community leaders, and policymakers. When a girl misses school because she lacks menstrual products or support, families and communities lose opportunities for education, leadership, and development. Fathers who cannot afford sanitary products often experience helplessness and economic pressure. Male teachers who are not equipped with menstrual health knowledge may struggle to support girls effectively at school. Husbands and partners also influence whether women and girls can access menstrual products and healthcare with dignity.

This is why boys and men must become active participants in the menstrual hygiene movement. Their involvement is not about taking over spaces meant for girls and women, but about becoming supportive allies who challenge stigma, promote respect, and help create enabling environments. Boys should learn about menstruation in schools so that they grow into informed and empathetic men. Fathers should feel confident discussing periods and purchasing sanitary products for their daughters. Male leaders should champion policies and budgets that prioritize menstrual health.

Engaging men and boys is critical for transforming harmful gender norms and building communities where girls feel safe, respected, and supported. When boys are included in conversations about menstrual health, stigma reduces, empathy increases, and supportive behaviors become more common. Menstrual health education should therefore not be limited to girls alone—it must involve everyone.

At the same time, meaningful progress in menstrual health and hygiene cannot happen without empowering grassroots actors and communities to lead change. Community members, teachers, youth leaders, women’s groups, peer educators, and grassroots organizations are closest to the realities girls face every day. They understand the cultural norms, economic barriers, and local challenges surrounding menstruation better than anyone else. Most importantly, they often already have practical and sustainable solutions rooted in community experience.

Grassroots movements have the power to normalize conversations around menstruation, mobilize local support systems, and hold leaders accountable for action. Girls themselves must be empowered not just as beneficiaries, but as advocates and decision-makers in the menstrual hygiene movement. When local communities are trusted, funded, and meaningfully engaged, they become powerful agents of change capable of transforming harmful norms and creating safe, period-friendly environments.

However, awareness alone is not enough. We need robust accountability and sustained commitment.

First, political goodwill is essential. Governments at national and local levels must prioritize menstrual health in policies, budgets, and public service delivery. Menstrual hygiene should not depend solely on NGOs or temporary projects. It must be integrated into education, health, water and sanitation, and gender programming.

Second, we need evidence-based data to inform action. Too many girls in rural communities remain invisible in policy discussions because their realities are underreported. Data from districts such as Iganga and Bugiri is necessary to understand how poverty, disability, school infrastructure, and social norms intersect to affect menstrual health outcomes.

Third, financing matters. Without adequate investment, schools cannot build girl-friendly sanitation facilities, provide emergency menstrual supplies, or deliver comprehensive menstrual health education. Menstrual products remain unaffordable for many families struggling with poverty. Governments and development partners must increase financing for menstrual health and hygiene interventions, especially in underserved rural areas and grassroots initiatives that directly support communities.

Finally, we must listen to the lived realities of girls and women themselves. Policies and programs cannot succeed if they are designed without the voices of those most affected. Girls understand the barriers they face every day—fear of embarrassment, lack of privacy, pain management challenges, stigma, and economic hardship. Their voices should guide solutions.

Menstrual Hygiene Day should therefore be more than a symbolic celebration. It should be a call to action.

A period-friendly world is possible—a world where no girl misses school because of menstruation, where periods are discussed openly without shame, where schools provide safe and dignified sanitation facilities, and where boys and men stand as allies for gender equality and dignity.

Menstruation is not a women’s and girls’ issue alone. It is a community issue, a public health issue, a human rights issue, and a gender justice issue. Building a world where girls menstruate with dignity requires collective responsibility from all of us.

The writer is the SRHR4ALL Project Coordinator at Straight Talk Foundation and Country Coordinator for MenEngage Uganda.