Association for the development and education of young people “Siguran Korak”(Safe Step) implemented the project “Learn, pass on – we spread awareness about menstrual health”, as part of the campaign “Zajedno za bolje sutra” (“Together for a better tomorrow”) implemented by the company DM. The project was implemented with the aim of raising the awareness of 30 Roma women and girls aged 12-50 from the area of Bijeljina about the importance of menstrual health, through educational workshops with the aim of changing the understanding of women and girls that taking care of our menstrual health is not a taboo topic, and then they were provided and support in the form of hygiene products (shower gels, pads, soaps, wet wipes) to make it easier for them to maintain menstrual hygiene.
The main problem is that the topic of menstruation and menstrual health is still a taboo, especially among Roma women and girls, who are not included in society, were brought up in a patriarchal community, and are also poor. Due to the above reasons, they do not take care of their menstrual health. They do not visit a gynecologist, because they consider it a shame, especially a male doctor, they are not literate, they do not even know how long the menstrual cycle lasts or when they are on fertile or infertile days, and most of them do not use pads, but old cloths, which leads to to dangerous for their health due to poor hygienic conditions. When they have their period, they think that it is not appropriate to bathe, and this increases the risk of infections even more, and endangers their reproductive health. They get married early and enter into relationships, and they do not have a developed awareness of contraception, the importance of regular gynecological examination, pregnancy management, which affects their health and the health of their children. Also, since they are poor, they cannot afford to buy pads regularly.
Through educational workshops, this problem was reduced, and in this way, Roma women learned to take better care of their menstrual health, and they were provided with hygiene packages for a period of one year, which will greatly affect their maintenance of menstrual hygiene. Pads for 30 Roma women for a period of one year, wet wipes, baths and soaps for a period of 6 months were distributed.
Workshop participants were active, participated in the workshop, wanted to learn about menstrual health. Some participants aged 40-50 asked questions about the climax, because they wanted to know more about how they can know when they will stop getting a cycle and what changes will happen in their body. The younger participants talked about how they don’t have regular periods, so the trainer of the workshop said that there is such a possibility and advised her to check her diet, because it may happen that she has polycystic ovaries due to inadequate nutrition, which can be the reason for irregular menstruation and absence of menstruation. Changing the diet can play a significant role in maintaining menstrual health, and she also advised to go for a gynecological examination, then to check the hormones, and also to do blood tests because the results can also tell the cause of the irregular cycle.
The users said that they found the workshop interesting and that they learned a lot of new and useful things at the workshop.
Members of the association “Siguran Korak” are still available for their users and all interested women and girls for counseling on the topic of menstrual health on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The association “Siguran Korak” believes that such projects are very useful because they significantly contribute to the maintenance of women’s menstrual health, which is still a taboo topic for many, and also for those who do not have the conditions for adequate maintenance of menstrual hygiene.
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