Prioritizing the Needs of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Emergencies
In the wake of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other humanitarian crises, ensuring the wellbeing and dignity of displaced populations is an immense challenge. While access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services are critical for all, the specific menstrual health and hygiene needs of women and girls are often overlooked or inadequately addressed. This oversight can have severe consequences, compromising their physical and mental health, safety, and ability to fully participate in community life.
Across the globe, over 30 million girls and women have been forcibly displaced due to emergencies – a record high since World War II. In these precarious situations, they face numerous barriers to managing their menstruation with comfort and privacy. Lacking access to appropriate sanitary products, private spaces for changing and washing, and adequate disposal facilities, many are forced to resort to unsafe, improvised methods. The resulting indignity, infections, and stigma can be devastating.
Fortunately, a growing movement is bringing menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) to the forefront of humanitarian response. By integrating MHH into emergency WASH, protection, health, and education initiatives, we can safeguard the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of displaced women and girls. This article explores the key challenges, effective strategies, and innovative approaches for promoting MHH in disaster shelters and camps.
Understanding the Barriers to Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Emergencies
Menstrual health and hygiene management (MHM) encompasses the facilities, information, and materials needed for women and girls to manage their menstruation safely, comfortably, and with dignity. In emergency contexts, MHM faces a unique set of obstacles that can profoundly impact individuals and communities:
Access to Menstrual Supplies: Displacement often disrupts the availability and affordability of sanitary pads, tampons, or reusable menstrual products. Reliance on aid distributions may be sporadic or inadequate, forcing women and girls to resort to unsafe, improvised alternatives like rags, leaves, or even newspapers.
Lack of Private Spaces: The cramped, shared living conditions common in disaster shelters and camps severely limit opportunities for women and girls to change, wash, and dry menstrual materials privately and with dignity. Communal latrines and bathing facilities often lack locks, lighting, and gender segregation, heightening the risk of harassment or assault.
Challenges with Disposal: Proper and discrete disposal of used menstrual materials is a significant challenge in emergency settings. Waste management systems are frequently overwhelmed, and cultural taboos around menstrual waste can deter women from utilizing shared disposal facilities.
Insufficient Menstrual Health Education: Many displaced women and girls lack access to basic information about puberty, menstruation, and menstrual hygiene. Without this knowledge, they may struggle to manage their cycles, face increased health risks, and perpetuate harmful cultural myths.
Disrupted Social Support: The trauma and upheaval of displacement can disrupt the social networks, familial support, and cultural rituals that normally help girls navigate menarche and women cope with menstruation. This isolation compounds the challenges of MHM.
Intersecting Vulnerabilities: Certain groups, such as adolescent girls, the elderly, those with disabilities, and sexual and gender minorities, face compounded MHM barriers due to their intersecting vulnerabilities. Their needs must be explicitly considered.
Ultimately, the lack of attention to MHH in humanitarian response not only jeopardizes the health and dignity of displaced women and girls but also limits their ability to participate fully in community life, education, and economic activities. Addressing these barriers is essential for upholding their fundamental rights and promoting their overall wellbeing.
Integrating Menstrual Health and Hygiene into Humanitarian Response
To effectively address the MHH needs of women and girls in emergencies, a holistic, cross-sectoral approach is required. Humanitarian actors across WASH, protection, health, education, and other relevant fields must work in tandem to ensure access to appropriate menstrual materials, safe and private facilities, and comprehensive menstrual health education.
Providing Access to Menstrual Supplies
The distribution of menstrual supplies, such as disposable pads or reusable menstrual cups and pads, is a critical first step in any MHH intervention. However, this must go beyond one-off “dignity kits” to ensure sustained access. Strategies include:
- Integrating menstrual supplies into regular WASH and protection item distributions, based on the specific needs and preferences of the affected population.
- Leveraging cash and voucher assistance to enable women and girls to purchase their preferred menstrual products, empowering their choices.
- Exploring local production and social enterprise models to increase the availability and affordability of menstrual materials.
Ensuring Access to Safe, Private WASH Facilities
Disaster-affected women and girls require access to WASH facilities that provide the privacy, safety, and functionality needed for comfortable menstrual management. Key interventions include:
- Designing latrines, bathing spaces, and washing areas that offer locks, lighting, and gender segregation to enhance safety and dignity.
- Locating WASH facilities in well-lit, accessible areas close to living spaces to minimize protection risks during nighttime use.
- Incorporating discreet, private menstrual waste disposal mechanisms, such as incinerators or burial pits, to address cultural taboos.
Delivering Comprehensive Menstrual Health Education
Equipping displaced women and girls with accurate information about menstruation is essential for promoting healthy practices, reducing stigma, and empowering them to manage their cycles with confidence. Educational initiatives should:
- Target both adolescent girls and their caregivers, addressing puberty, the biology of menstruation, and proper hygiene.
- Leverage interactive, visual, and culturally-appropriate methods, such as peer-to-peer education, school-based curricula, and community awareness campaigns.
- Engage religious and community leaders to address harmful cultural beliefs and taboos surrounding menstruation.
Strengthening Cross-Sectoral Coordination and Leadership
Effective MHH response requires clear leadership, robust coordination, and the active involvement of various humanitarian sectors. Strategies to enhance this include:
- Designating a lead agency or focal point responsible for MHH, with the authority to convene stakeholders and develop cross-cutting strategies.
- Establishing MHH technical working groups to facilitate information-sharing, joint planning, and the harmonization of approaches across sectors.
- Integrating MHH indicators and monitoring into existing WASH, protection, and health data collection systems.
Fostering Participatory, Context-Specific Approaches
Responding to the unique MHH needs of disaster-affected populations necessitates close engagement with women, girls, and their communities. This includes:
- Conducting formative assessments to understand local menstrual practices, taboos, and preferences before designing interventions.
- Actively involving women and girls in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of MHH initiatives to ensure relevance and acceptability.
- Adapting MHH solutions to the specific cultural, environmental, and logistical realities of each emergency context.
By comprehensively addressing the multifaceted barriers to menstrual health and hygiene, humanitarian actors can uphold the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of displaced women and girls. Integrating MHH across WASH, protection, health, and education sectors is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic investment in the resilience of crisis-affected communities.
Innovative Approaches to Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Emergencies
As the humanitarian sector grapples with the challenges of promoting MHH in diverse emergency settings, a growing number of innovative solutions are emerging. These approaches leverage technology, local entrepreneurship, and cross-cutting partnerships to enhance access, sustainability, and cultural relevance.
Leveraging Technology for Menstrual Management
Innovative technological solutions can dramatically improve the availability and functionality of menstrual products and disposal methods in resource-constrained settings. For example:
- The development of absorbent, biodegradable, and culturally-appropriate sanitary pads made from locally-sourced materials.
- The distribution of reusable menstrual cups or pads, which are cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and require less frequent replacement.
- The installation of “smart” incinerators that safely and discreetly dispose of used menstrual waste.
These technologies not only enhance MHH outcomes but also promote environmental sustainability and local economic empowerment.
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
Across the globe, women-led social enterprises are pioneering innovative solutions to improve menstrual health and hygiene in their communities. In emergency settings, these initiatives can:
- Establish local production of reusable menstrual pads, leveraging the skills and leadership of displaced women.
- Train women in the distribution and sale of menstrual products, creating livelihood opportunities.
- Engage women’s groups to co-design culturally-appropriate menstrual health education programs.
By investing in the entrepreneurial capacity of crisis-affected women, humanitarian actors can catalyze sustainable, community-driven approaches to MHH.
Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Scale and Impact
Achieving comprehensive, long-lasting improvements in menstrual health and hygiene requires collaboration across diverse stakeholders. Innovative partnerships are emerging that leverage the unique strengths of various actors, including:
- Public-private collaborations that combine the resources and expertise of corporations, NGOs, and local governments.
- Cross-border initiatives that facilitate the exchange of MHH best practices and the dissemination of effective solutions.
- Academic-humanitarian partnerships that generate rigorous evidence to guide policy and programming.
By fostering these multi-stakeholder alliances, the humanitarian sector can amplify the impact and sustainability of its MHH interventions.
The integration of these innovative approaches – technological solutions, women-led enterprises, and cross-cutting partnerships – can significantly enhance the ability of humanitarian actors to meet the diverse menstrual health and hygiene needs of crisis-affected women and girls. As the global community continues to grapple with the challenges of emergency response, prioritizing MHH will be essential for upholding the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of the most vulnerable.
Conclusion: A Call to Action for Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Emergencies
Addressing the menstrual health and hygiene needs of displaced women and girls is not only a moral imperative, but also a critical component of inclusive, equitable humanitarian response. By integrating MHH across WASH, protection, health, and education sectors, we can safeguard the rights, dignity, and overall wellbeing of crisis-affected populations.
The strategies and innovations outlined in this article provide a roadmap for humanitarian actors to enhance access to menstrual supplies, create safe and private WASH facilities, deliver comprehensive menstrual health education, and foster cross-sectoral coordination. However, realizing this vision will require a concerted, sustained effort from the global community.
We call upon humanitarian organizations, donors, policymakers, and local leaders to prioritize menstrual health and hygiene in emergency preparedness and response. Through collective action, we can ensure that no woman or girl is left behind, empowering them to manage their menstruation with comfort, safety, and dignity – even in the most challenging of circumstances.
Join us in this vital mission to uphold the fundamental rights and wellbeing of crisis-affected communities around the world. Together, we can build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient humanitarian system that meets the unique needs of all.
