One in every four women in Venezuela does not have menstrual hygiene products at home, having to resort to the use of unsafe and improvised alternatives that can cause infections and make them lose days of school and work

Menstrual poverty is defined as the lack of or limited access to sanitary products such as sanitary pads, tampons, and menstrual cups. According to the report by Alianza ConEllas, 25% of women in Venezuela are estimated to be deprived of menstrual products at home or have limited access to them.

Talking about period poverty is important and necessary, even amid the Complex Humanitarian Emergency (CHD) that currently affects the country. Menstruation is a biological process common in women from an early age and that carries on for around 40 years on average. Therefore, caring for menstruation generates a financial burden every month. Many take it for granted, but for many women living in poverty, especially in a context of crisis, such care implies an unviable economic effort, as many sacrifice the purchase of menstrual hygiene products for other items such as food.

In Venezuela, a package of disposable sanitary pads for an average period of 5 days can cost 1$ a month, while the minimum wage is around 5$ a month.

This differentiated economic burden that falls on menstruating women often forces them to use unhygienic and improvised alternatives, including the use of discarded pieces of garment, cardboard, toilet paper or pieces of regular paper as sanitary naps. In a survey of users conducted by Venezuelan NGO Acción Solidaria in 2021, 21% of menstruating people were found as having to resort to replacing menstrual hygiene products with homemade options, such as pads made from cloth, towels, or toilet paper.

The big problem with these alternatives is that they can cause discomfort and embarrassment at best, and life-threatening infections at worst.

Also, period poverty leads many women and girls to miss days of school or work because they do not have the products to care for their menstruation. This clearly affects their performance in both areas and compromises their academic or work performance, hindering their chances of developing their full potential and gaining access to better income, which becomes a vicious cycle. The previously mentioned survey also found that 22% of the respondent women affirmed having missed school or work due to menstruation.

This situation accentuates the gap between men and women, and becomes a gender problem: whenever a woman does not have access to adequate products to care for her menstruation, she is being discriminated against for being a woman.

Additionally, the stigmas and taboos surrounding menstruation make conversation difficult. In fact, the survey found that 45% of the respondent women associated their periods with negative or symptomatic words such as disgusting, terrible, expensive, depressing, painful and bleeding. Some of the men surveyed even refused to answer and described the question as a “woman’s topic”.

Being a country in crisis, Venezuela has many problems -all of them important and urgent- that cannot continue to be ignored, including the challenge of period poverty. The Venezuelan State must address the problem by applying recommendations that, despite the emergency, are feasible and have yielded good results in other countries, for example, the elimination of taxation on menstrual products.

It is imperative to address the gender agenda in the country and incorporate a gender-based approach in the formulation of programs, strategies and public policies that enable effective responses to the needs of women, dignify their lives and fight gender inequality. Women are key in all functional, prosperous and sound societies. Taking care of their needs should be a priority.

Translated by José Rafael Medina