Siyahluma: a critical health education intervention

Recent social science research points to various menstruation-related challenges facing women in the global South - most notably for our purposes here, young school-going girls in the global South report a lack of access to (1) reliable and hygienic menstrual products with which to manage their menstruation, as well as (2) the information they need to understand the process of menstruation, how to manage menstruation and how to perceive and treat their menstruating bodies given that menstruation is surrounded by a culture of taboo and silence - menstruation is seen as dirty, impure, contaminating and, importantly, as something to be concealed from others and not spoken about, particularly in relation to male others. This lack of access to information, or in many cases, provision of false, misleading or stigmatised information has a severe negative impact on the management of menstruation for both young girls and women in the global South