The Need
Many women and girls in Cameroon face menstruation with misinformation and a lack of necessary supplies. They are forced to resort to using unhygienic, makeshift measures like newspapers, rags or mud for menstrual care. Like in Canada, menstruation is a taboo topic in Cameroon. Women and girls face discrimination and cultural attitudes that treat menstruation with shame, and relegate women and girls to hide in their homes for one week of every month. This means that girls miss school or drop out altogether at the onset of puberty. Women are forced to miss work and lose important income that is necessary to support their families. Menstruation becomes a source of shame, ostracization and missed opportunity. This is unacceptable.