The theme for Menstrual Hygiene Day this year is ‘Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030’. UNFPA’s mandate in delivering for women and girls indicates that menstrual health is essential to bodily autonomy.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is a global advocacy platform to promote menstrual health and hygiene for all women and girls. It was launched with a wide range of partners to raise awareness about the vital need for adequate and sufficient menstrual hygiene knowledge for adolescent girls in schools and beyond with the primary goal being to break taboos and the stigma surrounding menstruation.

It is important, especially to be marked as an international day. The stigma attached to menstrual health globally in many countries creates barriers for women and girls. Millions of women and girls across the globe, and in Sri Lanka, face abuse, stigma, miss opportunities available to them, lose their dignity due to menstruation. In many cultures including Sri Lanka, the onset of menstruation means that the girl is now ready for marriage and childbearing, even if she is a child herself; they could be isolated to remote locations for the length of menstruation which could be unsafe and unsanitary; missing school due to the pain or the lack of access to products for personal hygiene are few of the reasons menstrual hygiene day continues to be important. These are also practiced in Sri Lanka to a certain extent and there are other myths and misconceptions around menstruation that communities still follow, especially due to lack of awareness and education.