Raising Teenagers Uganda spearheads campaign to end menstrual stigma

By Ben Musanje

16^th June 2022

Menstruation in many societies is discussed in hushed tones but, the ripple effect is that young girls across the country are forced to drop out of school because they cannot deal with it.

A recent Education and Sports Ministry report detailing status on its implementation of menstrual health management in the country indicates that about 23% of Ugandan girls in the age group of 12-18 drop out of school when they begin menstruation.

Hope Nankunda, the Executive Director for Raising Teenagers Uganda, a non-government organization that empowers teenage girls to stay in school, says that the drop out is linked to lack of menstrual hygiene and products, causing girls to become victims of teenage pregnancy.

She however says that the organization has embarked on conducting a full year media campaign to mobilize the public and hyping the teenage girls to end menstrual stigma in schools and communities starting next month in Buyende district, Eastern Uganda.

There are an estimated four million girls said to be in school today with about 80% of them living in rural areas where menstruation is never freely talked about but instead those going through it are stigmatized.