The Need For Menstrual Education

When discussing menstrual education in schools, usually it is to teach the female students to manage their period in silence.

Sex education and its topics are often considered taboo. The historical resistance to integrating this education into formal didactics is firmly rooted in collective thinking. When we talk about sex education, the negative semantic burden it poses immediately conjures ideas of sexual activity, unwanted pregnancies, social shame, and negative body image, especially among females.

This social optic has created so much unease that we have set aside the issues critical to people’s physical integrity and health. In previous articles, we talked about how resistance to the implementation of comprehensive sex education programs has devoided children of tools to identify sexual abuse and protect themselves and women the tools to manage menstruation with dignity.

This year and last, crucial progress has been made to incorporate teaching about menstrual health in the school curricula, and barriers to supplying feminine health products in educational spaces have fallen. However, menstrual education is still not included in primary sex education, but why? What is it, and why is it so essential to incorpórate it?

The basics of menstrual education

Menstrual education entails all the learning to empower period management as a natural process, devoid of social judgments about the female body and roles, prioritizing physical and mental health through knowledge of the menstrual cycle and how it affects each person individually. A menstrual educator would be the person who communicates these learnings in class to the students.

As mentioned above, menstrual education is not integrated into schools; they survive and grow through independent initiatives. In Mexico, the organization My New Moon organizes talks and workshops on women’s health. Colombia has Tyet, an organization that has developed specific pedagogical methodologies for menstrual instruction. It collaborates in creating menstrual health and hygiene protocols in Latin America. In Portugal, there is Perfect Circle, and in Spain, “I Am 1 . I am Four”  is one of the first menstrual education initiatives that have more than helped, forming a community of thousands of women. In countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya, other global organizations promote menstrual education and delve into important considerations, such as menstrual poverty or the environmental impact of disposable feminine products.

There’s are strong need and interest in menstrual education. But despite the many independent efforts to instruct on this subject, sex education in schools is still not treated as a cornerstone of the education plans. Why should it be integrated?

The need for menstrual education

“Menstrual education is urgent,” argues Isis Tijaro, anthropologist, menstrual educator, activist, and founder of Tyet. In the program “Todas y Todos (All Women and Men),“ produced by the University of Colombia, Tijaro explained that the root of the problem is how the idea of menstruation is culturally constructed from stigma and associated with a disease. It is considered a taboo topic that should be handled in the bedroom or bathroom and only discussed when requesting medical help during a complication.

The ailments associated with menstruation and their direct relationship to the calculation of fertile days used to manage or prevent pregnancy are the only two commonly discussed topics of this biological process. This negative social burden hinders efforts toward menstrual education that would reduce school absenteeism, effectively inform how the period works, and detect symptoms of ovarian or premenstrual disorders. The proper education creates awareness of menstruating bodies without prejudice and conceives dignified menstruation as a basic human right.

As a male or female teacher, what opinion do you have about how menstrual education and resources for dignified menstruation should be handled in your school? If you are a female student, what experiences have you had with school support or lack of school support to manage your menstrual experience? Have you participated in any independent initiatives promoting this section of sex education? Tell us in the comments.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The viewpoints expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints, and official policies of Tecnológico de Monterrey

Sofía García-Bullé

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0