The President of Self Love Foundation, an Obuasi-based all Feminine Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Hillary Ekuoba Gyasi, has backed calls by the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Sarah Adwoa Safo, to scrap taxes on imported Sanitary pads.
According to her, this will make them affordable and accessible to Ghanaian women, especially in deprived communities.
Miss Ekuoba Gyasi said this on the sidelines of a relationship seminar organised by the Students Chaplaincy Council of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Obuasi campus, where she was a guest speaker.
CHALLENGES GIRLS FACE DURING MENSTRUATION
The President of Self Love Foundation mentioned the inability of girls to access accurate information on how to observe Menstrual hygiene and the high cost of menstrual pads to girls in Senior High School and Junior High School, as factors impeding girls from adhering to Menstrual hygiene.
She added: “This is where Self Love Foundation comes in. At the moment we are partnering another NGO called ‘ Could you?’ to provide Menstrual caps; a small cap inserted into the woman to collect blood. These will be given out for free”. The menstrual cup can be used for the monthly menstrual cycle for a maximum of 10 years
STIGMA ATTACHED TO MENSTRUATION
The Vice President of Self Love Foundation and a Midwife of the AGA Health Foundation, Sally Osei Tieku, bemoaned the increasing rate of stigmatisation against girls during menstruation periods. Describing the situation as worrying, Miss Tieku said the misconceptions surrounding menstruation have resulted in most women developing low self esteem.
She called on men to support women during menstruation and see it as natural hormonal changes that women go through. ” Now most girls absent themselves from school during the period of menstruation. This is because of the embarrassment and pain they go through during this period.”
The Vice President of Self Love Foundation further stated that their NGO is working assiduously in educating girls on how to prepare for menstruation, how to go through menstrual hygiene and how to properly dispose off the waste.
SURGE IN REPORTED CASES OF BROKEN HOMES
A Family Life Councillor, Rev. Vincent Akwaa, also a guest speaker for the seminar, bewailed the recent increase in reported cases of broken homes; a phenomenon he blamed on the fact that most people marry out of pressure.
He added: “If you are forced to marry or you force yourself to marry, you might not enjoy a successful marriage life because the love might not be there.”
Rev. Akwaa also attributed the disturbing situation, which has negative consequences on children, to lack of endurance and the fighting spirit on the part of couples to protect their marriage or relationship despite the odds.