Let’s come together to fight against menstrual stigma – Stephen Koranteng

Let’s come together to fight against menstrual stigma – Stephen Koranteng

Project Coordinator for Days for Girls Ghana, Stephen Koranteng, has urged the public, specifically the masculine gender to join in the fight to end menstrual stigma.

During his submission on Inside Pages on Metro TV on Saturday, May 29, 2021, he said a section of the public still holds the assertion menstruation is taboo therefore discussing it openly will help remove the societal perception about the monthly flow of blood.

“I’m in this because I’m a product of menstruation because without…if there are ovaries there’s no way that menstruation is going to occur and the fact that we will be having a periodic menstrual flow is a signal that the body is preparing to make a human being, so, it is about high time all of us we come together and fight this.”

“Don’t forget that men we are also perpetuating of stigma,” he stated.

He also couldn’t fathom why the tax on sanitary pads isn’t scraped despite calls from civil society organisations and the general public to make pads affordable and accessible to women and promote menstrual hygiene.

“Yesterday something stroke me {that] is it because those at the realm of affairs didn’t get the message or the importance of menstruation that’s why they are finding it too difficult to get the tax removed on menstrual materials, is that the cause? If it is that we can say that probably that is why they’re finding it difficult because they were not introduced to the concept of mensuration and how important it is for women.”  He lamented.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has pledged to take necessary steps to address the tax on imported sanitary items.

“The needs of young girls are of utmost concern to me as a Minister and reducing the stigma around menstrual hygiene management is one that I take very seriously and that is why upon my assumption to the office I have written to the Ministry of Finance for a direct follow up on the removal of the luxury tax on the import of sanitary items,” she stated.

“Given the challenges that women and girls face, it is important to promote Menstrual Hygiene Management towards safeguarding the dignity and integrity of women and girls to positively contribute to improved school performance,” she said in a video released by the ministry to commemorate the 2021 Menstrual Hygiene Management Day on Friday, May 28, 2021.

By: Bernard Ralph Adams | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana

 

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