“A surprising number of school-going girls are, for a variety of reasons, unable to access sanitary pads. Due to this, girls often stay out of school, losing valuable academic days leading to poor academic performance, which in turn limits the potential of young women.” Stated the Executive Deputy Mayor, Ald Margie Sampson at a handover.
Access to sanitary pads is further complicated by the distance from home to a shop and the lack of clean and proper working toilets at schools, which make managing self-care during menstruation very difficult. It is this harsh reality that many girls of menstruation age across the Cape Winelands District are faced with.
“No girl should have to use toilet paper or newspaper when “that time of the month” comes around, but this is the case for many girls across the district. We now find that each year, more and more girls are staying out of school during their period, to avoid embarrassing situations or simply because they don’t have access to proper sanitary pads”. Stated the Executive Deputy Mayor.
During August the Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) were able to handover sanitary pads to selected schools across the district. These girls now have access to safe and hygienic pads that can be collected from assigned teachers, enabling dignity and a sense of control in the situation.
Myrtle Benjamen, CWDM: Project coordinator, “without this project, so many of our girls would stay away, rather than coming to school and risk an embarrassing situation. At CWDM, dignity, care, and compassion remain at the heart of what we do.”
