Event on hygiene management

LAHORE: The Centre of Business and Society at the Suleman Dawood School of Business LUMS organised its second edutainment event titled ‘It’s Everyone’s Business, Period. Health, Hygiene and the Menstrual Taboo’.

According to a press release, the event successfully brought forth a positive and constructive dialogue on menstrual health management issues along with the social and economic considerations of period poverty. The event premised around the issue of period poverty, which relates to the lack of access to sanitary products, washing facilities, dignity, and information about menstruation; an issue that poses a major setback for any economy due to its impact on health, education, the economy and the economic empowerment of women and the global stature of a country.

At least 500 million women and girls globally lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). Promoting menstrual hygiene management is not only a sanitation matter; it is also an important step towards safeguarding the dignity, bodily integrity and overall life opportunities of women and girls. Often, the hidden costs of period poverty include extreme mental health problems amongst females, which only deepen the taboo they are confronted with. Cultural stigma, lack of knowledge and a lack of access to menstrual hygiene products often force girls to stay home, skip days of school, or drop out altogether. The social and economic patterns that emerge from compromised education affect not just young girls but the whole community. CBS’ edutainment event ‘Its Everyone’s Business, Period.