Colombia’s first menstrual subsidy arrives along with an educational program of straightforward conversations and meetings that help girls, teenagers, women and menstruating persons live their menstrual cycle with dignity.
Menstruation is everyone’s business
Right now, as you’re reading this, 800 million women and persons are menstruating in the World, as a part of a life cycle that brings them together and that involves health, life sustenance and a connection with Nature’s cyclical movements.
Menstruating is not only an individual experience, but also a collective reality that takes form when we understand that the way we understand and approach menstruation is deeply intertwined with the concepts of dignity, equity and autonomy. Menstruation exists, and even though it’s something as natural as breathing, we seem to avoid talking and relating to it.
Did you know there are over 5.000 euphemisms in 10 different languages around the World referring to menstruation? So it’s not just a language thing. In fact, the possibility to consciously menstruate for all girls, teens, women and persons, is part of the discussion in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Have you wondered what happens to people that have no access to hygienic alternatives? One out of every two girls in vulnerable populations in Colombia faces this reality.
Do you use a nickname to avoid talking about your menstruation? Over 30% of teenagers feel uncomfortable and ashamed when talking about menstruation.
Have you ever stopped doing something you like because you’re in the bleeding phase? One out three girls in rural areas skip school due to the lack of resources to manage their own cycle.
Did you know that the first disposable sanitary towel you used is still nearly intact in some landfill? Menstrual cycle related waste for a single person is estimated to be about 65 kilograms of non-recyclable garbage.
Why a menstrual subsidy?
Our program and menstrual subsidy is an instrument for engaging in conversation, taking care of the body, overcoming menstrual poverty and making a cultural contribution to environmental protection and promotion of mental, physical and social health of girls, teenagers, women and menstruating persons.
After experimenting in workshops following the circle of women methodology as an ancient form of social bonding, we were able to find that talking about menstruating bodies, cycles and taboos, can create a space proper for comprehensive transformation of young women from a biopsychosocial standpoint.
It also enables education on relates aspects, such as sexual health, physical and mental well-being, emotional education, and bonds between women and other people.
Now is the time to connect with our bodies and its cycles. And we know that it’s necessary and urgent to find alternatives of menstrual management as well as healthy, secure and visible education that advances the conversation and establishes bonds and meetings.
That’s why our menstrual subsidy is trying to make elements like the menstrual cup, cloth menstrual pads and absorbent panties more accessible to everyone, but it also proposes educational coverage in schools, conversational stages, and community media in the Valle de Aburrá as well as in the different regions of Antioquia.
The subsidy will initially be granted to girls and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18 per their affiliate wage category.
