Access to proper sanitary pads and the right to manage menstruation without shame or stigma is essential for every girl who experiences menstruation. Unfortunately, marginalized young girls continue to face real and profound menstrual health management challenges. Due to a lack of funds to purchase proper pads, some resort to; using toilet paper, polythene bags, leaves, scrap cloth, and others share reusable sanitary towels hence creating a high risk of venereal disease transmission.
Some of the girls shared their stories with us;
“I used the sanitary pad upside down for about a year because I was neither told by anyone how to use it properly nor did I ask anyone due to the fear of humiliation. It leaked and I was so embarrassed.
“During my period, I mostly use rags and sometimes toilet paper, but I am most comfortable when I just do not go to school.”
“I cannot concentrate in class when I am in my periods because I keep wondering if my dress is soiled.”
” Boys once teased my friend when she soiled her uniform, taunting her that she had slaughtered a hen.” She decided never to return to school.

Mentor Her aims at solving this injustice by equipping marginalized girls with hands-on skills in making their own reusable sanitary pads to enable them to manage their periods without being subject to shame and embarrassment.
In this sub-outcome, ‘marginalized girls are defined as those girls with disabilities, refugees, and girls living in extreme poverty in remote areas and urban slums.