Break the silence!

Menstruation is a natural process that occurs monthly in healthy adolescent girls and pre-menopausal adult women. Girls begin to menstruate usually between the ages of 9 and 12. The majority of girls and women in Bangladesh use rags which  are usually torn from old fabrics. There is often no safe water or soap to clean these rags. Since menstruation is considered as ‘cultural shame’, women dry their rags in dark, damp and unhygienic places so these rags are not seen by anyone. These kind of practices lead women to significant illness and infection associated with reproductive health.

In rural Bangladesh, this situation is very common. An awareness building program by WaterAid Bangladesh helped to put this issue on development agenda.

Find out more: “Hygiene promotion”, by WaterAid Bangladesh.