Sexual Education and Menstrual Hygiene at School

The Project

In several regions of Benin, menstruation is still a taboo subject. As a result, girls do not attend school during their periods and miss out on development opportunities.

As a foundation, we advocate for the right to quality education and gender equality. Therefore, we invest in better sexual education and menstrual hygiene in the schools within our working area.

Project Objective

By better informing and educating all students (both boys and girls), we aim to reduce absenteeism among girls and provide them with better educational and learning opportunities.

Project Description

We organize separate information sessions for girls and joint sessions for boys and girls. This way, girls learn what menstruation means and how to take care of themselves during this period. By involving boys in the training, we can gradually break the taboo surrounding menstruation.

The girls received reusable sanitary pads and small calendars to track their menstrual cycles. We also provide spaces in schools for them to take care of themselves during their periods.

We have asked a few mothers in each school to serve as confidants. The girls can approach them with their intimate questions.

Results and Developments

In the schools participating in our project, we see a significant decrease in absenteeism among girls. So far, we have distributed 250 reusable sanitary pads and 250 calendars. By involving the girls and the boys in the project, we notice that the boys now show a more understanding attitude.

In some places, we have installed additional toilets. However, adequate sanitary infrastructure remains a challenge in several schools. In the future, we want to continue investing in this sanitary infrastructure, the information sessions, and the distribution of reusable sanitary pads.