Safe Periods for girls in Nigerian urban slums

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Girl Child Art Foundation!

 "Research shows an undeniable link between poverty and sexual violence. Period poverty is one of the vast causes of sexual violence, which could ruin or jeopardize the victims' mental and social state, often leading to young girls dropping out of school. One out of every ten girl child might be a victim of sexual violence because she could not afford sanitary products, which tend to make her seek assistance from the perpetrators of this crime. According to UNICEF, about 37 per cent of the total population of women in Nigeria are faced with the challenge of not being able to afford sanitary products. A cyclical dynamic exists between sexual violence and period poverty.

Ultimately, period poverty could result in a girl's right being infringed upon and making her sexually vulnerable, making her more dependent on these men or boys for survival and therefore less able to control her sexuality to consent to sex. Period poverty increases a girl child's vulnerability to sexual exploitation. One in three girls living in the urban slum of Nigeria has experienced sexual violence and abuse. When a girl cannot afford her sanitary pads, she is likely to ask people who, in turn, take advantage of her.

"We had a story of a young girl who was gang-raped and drugged by her boyfriend and his friends because she had asked him for money to buy her sanitary pads".

OUR EMPHASIS 

 To a more significant extent, parents who haven't had proper sexual and menstrual orientation could not play their parts properly by educating their children on how to manage their periods and safe sex practice. In some conservative parts of Africa, parents shy away from sex education. When these girls reach out to their parents in discussions about sex and menstrual hygiene, they tend to get a cold response. A typical example of this scenario is one of the girls we met during our local forums, whose mother told her off when she found out she was ill, telling her that if she got pregnant, she would be thrown out of the house. All of these have a significant negative impact on the girl child. We at GCAF have committed to working with parents through community engagement activities. We do this by bringing in experts to sensitize, share experiences and teach parents how to communicate and educate their children on safe sex, how to manage their periods and practical behavioural approach to understanding their girl child's immediate needs.

At GCAF, we must sensitize and educate these girls early on about the challenges and stress that come with having their monthly periods by taking practical steps to teach them how to use their pads and liners correctly, the proper hygiene, safe sex and pregnancy. We provide the girls with good sanitary products, equipping them ahead of time. In addition, we offer them a space where they can come to express themselves freely without being afraid or shy to talk about their challenges. We encourage them to be innovative and harness their potential to break through the barriers limiting them from reaching their goals in life.

(A girl) I learned so far from our training sessions how to use pads, align panty liners properly on her pants, maintain good hygiene during her menstrual periods, and understand my body."

We work with parents 

of the girls who participate in our activities, community leaders, and women leaders to support girls living in the poorest parts of urban areas to enhance their creativity, teach confidence, educate them and ensure they have access to sanitary products. With the help of 

Our corporate donors and sponsors have provided that we get constant supplies of these hygienic products, learning materials and hygiene resources. We have been able to reach and enhance a more comprehensive range of girls who come by our studio facility. We have recorded tremendous success in our daily interventions in educating and continuous supply of pads to these girls within our studio space, thereby helping us curb the effect of period poverty.

Our girls do not have to miss school anymore because of their periods. With the support of our community, partners, sponsor and your donations, we have reduced transactional sex and teen pregnancy in the community one girl at a time.

Thank you,

 Regards,

GCAF Team.