Menstruation Hygiene Management and Work Attendance in a Developing Country

Abstract

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Menstrual health challenges in the workplace and consequences for women’s work and wellbeing: a cross-sectional survey in Mukono, Uganda

“…However, use of an improvised menstrual material such as reusable cloth was associated with higher absenteeism. This was consistent with studies testing the relationship between pad use and absenteeism that did not include other menstrual needs 23 and may suggest this particular resource was pivotal. Not feeling comfortable to talk to someone at work about menstruation was associated with a higher prevalence of absenteeism, although reporting having someone to ask for help was not.…”

“…21 The few studies that have been undertaken have often focused on the use of menstrual pads rather than the broad array of challenges identified through qualitative research. 22 23 To address these gaps, our quantitative study was informed by past research and our qualitative interviews. We aimed to measure needs across domains of self-care, pain, and the sociocultural environment and assess their impacts on women's work and wellbeing.…”

Social Norms and Misinformation: Experimental Evidence on Learning About Menstrual Health Management in Rural Bangladesh

“…Sunlight is crucial because it is the only available method of killing bacteria in the cloth in many low-income settings (Torondel et al, 2018). Inadequate hygiene during menstruation can have adverse consequences both for the women and for their families: adverse health effects due to urogenital tract infections (Das et al, 2015;Hulland et al, 2015), lower education participation, since adolescent girls increasingly drop out of school when menstruating or miss more days at school (Montgomery et al, 2012;Hennegan and Montgomery, 2016;Benshaul-Tolonen et al, 2019), and higher work absenteeism (Krenz and Strulik, 2019;Czura et al, 2020). 1 Most studies focus on restricted access to better menstrual hygiene information and products, such as sanitary pads or menstrual cups, since the cost and availability of these products in the local markets are suspected to be the main reasons for low uptake.…”

“…For example, in a non-randomized trial, Montgomery et al (2012) find improved attendance of school girls who received free sanitary pads in rural Ghana, while Oster and Thornton (2011) find no substantial improvements in school attendance for girls who received menstrual cups in a randomized-controlled trial, partially due to a very low baseline level of days missed at school in urban Nepal. For working women, Krenz and Strulik (2019) use propensity score-matching to identify differences in work absenteeism between women in Burkina Faso who report using disposable sanitary pads and those that use traditional menstrual material and they find a sizable reduction in work absenteeism. Using data from a randomized-controlled trial with information provision and the distribution of free sanitary pads, Czura et al (2020) find some reduction of worker absenteeism by access to free sanitary pads.…”

Menstrual Health, Worker Productivity and Well-being among Female Bangladeshi Garment Workers

“…In our sample, 41 percent of women report using disposable sanitary pads regularly at baseline, while another 9 percent report using them occasionally, with the remainder using "traditional" MHM remedies such as old cloth, rags, or tissue paper. The randomised trial is designed to relax independently the main potential constraints to widespread adoption of 2 An exception to the general scarcity of research on the link between menstrual health and work life in developing countries are Krenz and Strulik (2019), who find that in Burkina Faso, access to sanitary pads reduces work absenteeism by around 20 percent, using propensity score matching. Sommer et al (2016) make the case for more research in this area from a broader policy perspective.…”