“This is real talk. In my country, Ethiopia, many girls drop out of school because of their period.”
The kind of support Zeleke talks about is based on compassion and open-mindedness. It’s the kind of support that dares to break cultural norms, encouraging girls to speak up when they need help and inspiring them to believe that there is no shame in the natural process of their bodies.
“I got my period when I was 11 years old and it was very hard to mention it to my friends or classmates,” the Ethiopian woman said. “My mom helped me through a hard time. I thank all my family for standing with me and teaching me what to do while I’m on my period. I have body cramps and my dad still checks on me and he always tells me to check on my younger sisters and girls as well.”
As she grew older, Zeleke realized that many girls are not fortunate to have support from their families as she did. There was one image in particular that opened the young woman’s eyes and inspired her to launch a campaign for girls.
“The poster I saw on a meme page literally thanks husbands for not letting their wife stay outside while they menstruate,” she said. “It was such a painful moment learning how period Is deeply tabooed. And most importantly, I learned youth like me need to work hard on breaking the taboo.”
It’s not only the stigma that bothers Zeleke. It’s also the shortage of period products and the lack of information, which ultimately leaves a psychological impact on girls and affects other aspects of their lives.
“In Ethiopia, girls reach puberty and start menstruating often without adequate information and the psychological readiness to manage it, causing the onset of menstruation (menarche) to be a shocking incident,” Zeleke said. “Lack of information accompanied by a lack of access to appropriate sanitary wear and proper facilities for managing menstruation at school can hinder girls’ class attendance, performance and school completion.”
After seeing the troubling meme, Zeleke decided to take a step forward. She started with a Google search, looking for organizations which strive to break the taboo and solve period poverty. One of the first organizations she found was known as POWER:Period, a group based in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is focused on “challenging the stigma of menstruation through activism, engagement and workshops.”
“I sent an email requesting to be their period ambassador in Ethiopia and their feedback was very appreciated,” Zeleke said.
The ambassador then worked with her new team to arrange panel discussions in Ethiopia and to create more ways to educate the public.
“POWER:Period was helping me with ideas and supporting me with all they can. I was even the first person to receive the booklet which POWER:Period made and translated in Amharic and gave out thousands of copies to educate people. It helped me learn more after collecting feedback from the booklet I translated,” said the advocate, who’s currently working on translating the booklet in three more Ethiopian languages.
Ramping up her efforts since taking that first step, the East African woman found more partnerships, speaking opportunities and ideas. In one of her latest roles, Zeleke serves as the global ambassador of an organization known as Women and Girls Support Ethiopia, which strives to empower women and girls through diverse developmental activities focused on poverty alleviation.
“It has a vision to see a community where women enjoy life equally as their male counterpart through creating economic and social opportunities,” Zeleke said. “Enhancing their capacity through multiple interventions, including education and training, WGS-E strives to make its vision viable.”
The global ambassador has also partnered with WGS-E to launch the #icare campaign, which leads an effort to distribute period products, in addition to fighting against other common issues affecting women.
“WGS-E #icare campaign share complementary goals,” Zeleke said. “One of the overall goals is to expand the outreach of the vocational skill training program to marginalized group of people and connect them into income generating activities.”
The #icare leader was emotionally overwhelmed during a recent event in Addis Ababa, where she discussed the challenges girls face due to period poverty.
“It was at the event held in Hilton Addis on Jan. 2, where WGS-E #icare campaign collaborated with Merahit, Jegnit Yanchi and Kalkidan Children’s Health Care Charity Organization to launch a campaign together to [provide] one million period products for adolescent school girls,” Zeleke said.
kalkidan children’s health care charity organization in support to WGSE, collaborated with merahit, jegnit and yanchi…
Posted by Kalkidan Children’s Health Care Charity Organization on Sunday, January 3, 2021
As she took the stage on that day to speak about the issue, the advocate first showed gratitude for her parents, thanking them for being there from day one and for supporting her work through the years. Zeleke also visualized the dozens of girls who use socks and other homemade supplies instead of pads.
“I cried in front of the crowd begging them to help us solve period poverty,” she said.
On. Jan 4., the Ministry of Finance – Ethiopia delivered welcome news for women, reducing taxes on Menstrual Hygiene Management products from 30% to 10%.
Ethiopia has drastically reduced taxes on MHM products from 30% to 10% to make MHM essential products available and affordable for all girls and this is resulting in an increase in access to the products for women and adolescent girls. 3/3
— Ministry of Finance – Ethiopia (@MoF_Ethiopia) January 4, 2021
The uplifting news was the result of years of hard work from the advocates.
“So about the tax issue, Jegnit had been working day and night for the past two years, which needs to be appreciated the most,” Zeleke said.
The #icare leader also played a role in resolving the tax issue, dedicating hours of research to highlight the extent of the problem.
“I had to turn my face to the system and check what made period products unaffordable,” she said. “And BOOM, doing my research, I found tax on period products was about 67-123%.”
Zeleke recalls a time when she went to buy reusable pads with her friends and paid almost 8000 birr as tax.
“That will literally keep 80 girls in school for a year and half,” she said.
Hoping to solve the tax issue, Zeleke and her partners collected 2,000 signatures from petitions. While they were happy to get the signatures, the advocates also learned how difficult it is to get people interested in the topic of menstruation.
“It was never easy to collect 2000 signatures while people don’t take period poverty seriously,” Zeleke said. “It’s painful how some private school directors were ignorant and some people think it’s not an issue at all.”
The shortage of dialogue, coupled with the dearth of research on the topic, has compounded the issue of period poverty.
“To my knowledge there has never been a detailed national survey of Ethiopia looking at menstruation,” Zeleke said. “Millions of girls and women are denied mobility and are subject to restrictions in their daily lives when menstruating. Due to the culture of silence and associated stigma around menstruation, the topic is not openly discussed even at the family level and therefore not given due attention.”
Zeleke points to non-facilitating school environments as another significant issue.
“Ensuring sufficient gender specific private toilet facilities with water for changing and washing, and provision of sanitary materials would help reduce girls’ absenteeism in schools during menstruation,” the Addis Ababa resident said. “Providing pain relief and adapting school rules (to facilitate toilet visits) may further help to facilitate menstrual care in schools.”
She also recommends broader policy implications to “include the responsiveness of the education sector to enhance girls’ reproductive health and life skills, and modify social norms to diminish menstrual restrictions.”
Zeleke adds that international investment is needed in the development of environmentally-friendly materials and disposal systems.
“Good menstrual hygiene is crucial for both physical and mental health, education, and dignity of adolescent schoolgirls,” she said. “Menstruation is part of the female reproductive cycle starting at puberty. Poor menstrual hygiene has been associated with serious ill-health, including reproductive tract and urinary tract infections. Inadequate water and sanitation facilities is a major impediment to school attendance for girls during menstruation.”
While the issue is still widespread, the champions of women’s rights have seen some reasons for optimism.
“Traveling to different parts of the country to solve period poverty and break awareness was one of our big achievements,” Zeleke said.
Advocates are also training women for various jobs, aiming to help them generate income.
“By bringing the diverse parts of our interventions and movement together around a common vision, I’m looking for individuals and organizations that will propel our movement forward,” Zeleke said. “We aim to develop a network of strategically aligned individuals and organizations residing in Ethiopia working together to advance the initiation.”
The #icare campaign and its partners have been able to collect thousands of sanitary products and distribute them to school girls in recent years. However, with many more girls still looking for access to the basic needs, the human rights champions are calling for universal unity.
That means the responsibility falls on people of all genders, teachers, community leaders and parents, who are being asked to teach their boys to stop shaming girls when they have their periods.
“The society I grew up in looks at blood made by violence as normal, but peaceful and natural blood is horrific,” Zeleke said. “We talk about human rights, yet leave menstrual hygiene aside. As we women are the builders and the incubators, we deserve the human right too.”
The advocate recalls a caption she once read, which stated that “CONDOMS should be sold and pads should be given for free. Sex is a choice and MENSTRUATION isn’t. Young girls without money are suffering out there.”
“This is real talk. In my country, Ethiopia, many girls drop out of school because of their period,” Zeleke said. “There are lots of companies profiting from this period. Some girls find it hard to afford disposal pads every month. It’s very hard for university students and girls from low-income families. I know some girls stay with the same pad to avoid the cost because they don’t have the knowledge and don’t know about side effects.”
Zeleke, who studied International Trade and Economics at Zhejiang Normal University in China, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the field of Counseling in Psychology. But she still has time to get involved in several humanitarian projects, in addition to her focus on period poverty.
“I work on some projects which are focused on women and economic empowerment as well youth unemployment,” the humanitarian said.
Just like her parents, who helped her grow into a confident woman, Zeleke is determined to extend the support as she goes forward.
“I never cared about my bed sheets or panties while I’m on my period. So I want every girl in the community, city, country, to be confident about their period,” she said.
According to the Nobel Peace Center, 75 percent of Ethiopian women and girls lack access to menstrual supplies. The report adds that girls are often forced to use alternatives such as dry grass, rags, newspapers and cow dung.
“Lots of girls are having a problem in school, universities and different places,” Zeleke said. “I always think about girls and women who are living on the streets, how they can’t afford sanitary pads. Women need pads, tampons and menstrual cups for basic dignity while we bleed.”
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