How Social Media is Changing Period Stigma in Foreign Nations

The National Institutes of Health reported on a study involving health education about menstruation for adolescent girls, where at the beginning of the study, only 34% of girls knew that menstruation is a regular process of their bodies. However, after they underwent a menstrual educational program, this number jumped to 80%. As the National Institutes say, this study “highlights the importance of health education programs in schools focusing mainly on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health among adolescent girls”. 

In foreign countries beyond the West, this couldn’t be more true.

A study ran by the National Institutes revealed that out of a sample of 100,000 adolescent girls from India, about half of them didn’t even know what menstruation was until their first period, some even believing that they were dying or had contracted a disease. Menstruating women in India are sometimes barred from entering their kitchens, temples, shrines, and even social events since they are considered “impure”. The same can be said about other Asian countries.

Another study focused on the world as a whole, including the West, which revealed that 7 out of 10 women are taught to “take care” of their periods privately and discreetly. This stigma around periods affects women and young girls in all aspects of their life - some are mocked for it with 2 in 5 young girls admitting that they’ve been shamed for their periods in the United Kingdom alone.

Fortunately, period stigma has been gradually decreasing in the West, with currently 28 states, as well as Washington D.C., passing legislation to help menstruating students have access to period products at school. In foreign, more conservative countries, awareness is growing - albeit more slowly. 

Awareness on periods is essential to helping young girls and women. Getting rid of the shame and mockery surrounding menstruation is the way to move forward to a better society. Luckily, with the growth of social media platforms that advance cross-cultural and international interactions between people, as well as ideas, the current generation as well as ones to follow are more likely to promote period awareness than the generations that came before.

 Current governments have begun to pass revolutionary laws supporting period consciousness, and this is only the start. The German based NGO WASH United organization, for example, created Menstrual Health Awareness day in 2013 to spark discussion about period stigma between everyday people and lawmakers. Nonprofits like the Pad Project, The Cycle, and Alliance for Period Supplies have grown in popularity and reach, working to promote period education programs and easy access to period products. Even the United Nations have discussed menstrual hygiene and want people to become more accepting of periods.

In addition, access to period education is much easier in the modern world. Students are able to learn about in their health or biology classes (albeit in some areas this type of education is limited or restricted). Websites like Youtube and Reddit offer direct advice from women to young girls as well as education about menstruation to virtually anyone who wants to know about it. 

While menstrual education may be relatively low in some parts of the world, in the future, we can hope to see a greater tolerance and acceptance of menstruation all over the world thanks to the rapid spread of information and ideas online.