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Empowering Kenyan women and girls with disabilities in managing menstrual health
Anne Wanjiru found out she had gotten her first period when a boarding school classmate told her she had stained her dress. No one had ever explained menstruation to her, so the then-14-year-old, who had a congenital…
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As Afghanistan grapples with surge in COVID-19 cases, one midwife shares her strength
When the pandemic struck, around February 2020, tens of thousands of undocumented Afghans were deported, flooding the Gazargah Transit Centre. “Everybody was scared and the camp received thousands of deportees daily,”…
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Indonesian religious leaders, health workers advocate female genital mutilation’s end
“I was about seven years old when my mother organized a female genital mutilation ritual for me. The paradji [traditional birth attendant] used a piece of sharpened bamboo stick. I was screaming in severe pain, and I…
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Displaced Rohingya navigate new parenthood in Bangladesh
Kawser and Mohammed met in a Rohingya camp here in 2018 after being forced to flee their homes in Myanmar. “She had seen me with my siblings and my mother, whereas I got to know her through my brother. I was too shy to…
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Helping women and girls claim their bodily autonomy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gender-based violence, including domestic violence, conflict-related sexual violence, and harmful practices, are widespread in many parts of the country. UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem
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Increasing access to sexual and reproductive health and HIV programmes for gender-diverse communities in Bangladesh
”I have never been loved or respected by anyone in my life except a few early years by my mother,” said Shohan, a transgender woman living in Dhaka who left her family when she was 11.
Her experience is…
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After giving birth under a bridge amid hurricane wreckage, recovery remains a distant prospect for Honduran mother
Fabiola Ulloa, 23, gave birth under a bridge where she had taken shelter from a raging hurricane.
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Mozambique, Angola help girls manage menstrual health and hygiene in crisis and beyond
It can be challenging enough when a girl gets her first period – she may not even know what is happening to her body. Now put her in a situation in which she’s been displaced or vulnerable because of a natural disaster…
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First menstruation is often accompanied by fear, shame, lack of information, women and girls in Arab states reveal
An informal online survey in the region found 24 of 69 respondents had no information about menstruation prior to experiencing their first period.
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