The Numbers Are In!

20:34 September 18, 2009
New York, NY

If you read the last post, "Bringing It Back," you found out that SHE talked to over 500 girls and women last year in Rwanda after 100+ practitioners and experts in health and education confirmed that girls and women miss school/work because they lack access to affordable sanitary pads. So, what did doing our homework tell us? Keep reading!

SHE MENSTRUATION SURVEY 2008 RWANDA

This analysis was based upon the data collected in 2008 by SHE. The sample was random and the 527 respondents reflected different demographics. This is a short sample of responses from the survey.


SCHOOL AGE RESPONDENTS: (20 years and under)

o Miss school because of menstruation = 53.6%
o Unable to carry out daily activities because of menstruation = 54.1%

• If she misses school it is because (respondents checked all answers that applied)
o Miss school because pads are too expensive = 36.0%
o Miss school because physically sick = 56.6%
o Miss school because pads don’t work well = 39.0%
o Miss school because the cloth rags they use do not work well = 13.1%
o Miss school because they do not have adequate facilities (female toilets or private spaces) = 6.0%

• Number of days of school or work missed:
o Overall average 3.49

WORKING AGE RESPONDENTS (16 years and over)

• Her menstruation causes her to:
o Miss work because of menstruation = 20.9%
o Unable to carry out normal daily activities = 52.4%

• If she misses work it is because: (respondents checked all answers that applied)
o Physically sick = 41.2%
o Miss work because pads are too expensive = 24.4%
o Miss work because pads do not work well = 22.9%
o Miss work because rags do not work well = 11.4%
o Miss work because there are no female toilets or private spaces available = 5.0%

• Number of days of school or work missed
o Overall, working age respondents: Average = 3.61 days

Want to do something about this? Heck yeah!