A Qualitative Study Exploring Menstruation Experiences and Practices among Adolescent Girls Living in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda

Abstract

(1) Background: Girls in low- and lower-middle income countries face challenges in menstrual health management (MHM), which impact their health and schooling. This might be exacerbated by refugee conditions. This study aimed at describing menstruation practices and experiences of adolescent girls in Nakivale refugee settlement in Southwestern Uganda. (2) Methods: We conducted a qualitative study from March to May 2018 and we intentionally selected participants to broadly represent different age groups and countries of origin. We conducted 28 semistructured interviews and two focus group discussions. Data were transcribed and translated into English. Analysis included data familiarization, manual coding, generation and refining of themes. (3) Results: Main findings included: (a) challenging social context with negative experiences during migration, family separation and scarcity of resources for livelihood within the settlement; (b) unfavorable menstruation experiences, including unpreparedness for menarche and lack of knowledge, limitations in activity and leisure, pain, school absenteeism and psychosocial effects; (c) menstrual practices, including use of unsuitable alternatives for MHM and poor health-seeking behavior. (4) Conclusions: A multipronged approach to MHM management is crucial, including comprehensive sexual education, enhancement of parent–adolescent communication, health sector partnership and support from NGOs to meet the tailored needs of adolescent girls.

Period poverty: menstrual health hygiene issues among adolescent and young Venezuelan migrant women at the northwestern border of Brazil

“…In addition, it was described that those adolescents and young women in humanitarian settings can suffer sexual exploitation trying to manage their MHM needs [ 10 , 22 ]. In our study, we observed that the majority of females reported fear and anxiety of leakage of bleeding through the clothes which was also reported in other humanitarian contexts causing psychological and social effects as harassment, isolation, and absenteeism at school [ 9 , 10 , 25 ].…”

“…Almost 30% of them did not answer the questions or answered that they did not know what menstruation for them is; moreover, for the others, menstruation was associated either with negative feelings or resignation. This has been described in other studies regardless the nationality, religious, or cultural beliefs [ 9 , 10 , 22 – 25 ], underlying the needs of education on menstrual and reproductive health with the youth and the communities, so that everyone, including men, would be knowledgeable and comfortable in discussing MHM issues [ 10 , 22 , 27 ].…”

Drivers of menstrual material disposal and washing practices: A systematic review

“…availability of soap for washing [20,33,49,53,54,[56][57][58]60,61,63,64,66,67,73,77,90,91] and the availability of a physically functional disposal mechanism and/or service for used material [18,28,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37]42,[44][45][46][47][48]52,53,57,58,60,62,63,[66][67][68]71,76,77,82,83,86,90,91,…”

Women’s Cognition and Attitude with Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products by Consumer Lifestyle

“…During menstruation, women use different menstrual products to absorb menstrual blood and prevent outflow. The use of menstrual products can be traced back to ancient times, when women used leaves, hay, and bark, which are easy to clean, to carry menstrual blood due to poor living conditions [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. However, women in different countries dealt with menstrual blood in different ways, including the use of wool, folded paper, and papyrus.…”