To mark the International Women’s Day (IWD), a socially-conscious fashion brand, HUMANx, has organised an outreach in Takushara community in Abuja to enlighten the women on menstrual hygiene management and donated sanitary kits to them.
The founder and creative director of HUMANx, Gbemi Elekula, said the programme was in keeping with the vision and mission of the brand, which is to bring about an end to period poverty in Nigeria.
Elekula said it was also in line with this year’s IWD campaign theme #BreaktheBias, which spotlighted the individual and collective biases against women that fuel gender inequality.
“Though a naturally-occurring physiological phenomenon, menstruation and associated activities are still shrouded in secrecy and taboos here in Nigeria. In some communities, particularly in the rural areas, social restrictions are placed on menstruating females preventing them from participating in normal activities and making it difficult for them to move ahead,” Elekula stated.
“There is no equity when half the population bear the physical, emotional, mental and financial distress as a consequence of the natural reproductive cycle needed to ensure human survival. This is why HUMANx is focused on period poverty—to generate open and honest conversations about menstruation and the problems around it, as well as to find ways to lessen the burden on the most affected females.
“At HUMANx, our belief is that young girls and women everywhere should have access to necessary information and sanitary products to manage their menstruation in a hygienic way—in safety, privacy, and with dignity. Besides enlightening them on menstruation and menstrual hygiene, we also gave out Dignity Packs comprising period pants, pain killers, reusable sanitary pads, a manual on how to launder them, soap for washing, as well as pegs for drying, to 250 women,” Elekula said.
Also, the programme manager, Slay Dot Com Aid Initiative (ThriftySlayer), Chinelo Njemanze stressed the need to challenge stereotypes, biases and discriminatory practices that impede women’s contributions to building a sustainable future for all. “For many low-income women, these practices are as basic as not having access to needed menstrual hygiene products or information that can help to improve their productivity during menstruation. That is why we have partnered with HUMANx on this outreach.”
Credit: Leadership.ng HUMANx Assists FCT Rural Women