You may have heard some of these—food touched while menstruating will go bad, or a person is PMS-ing or menstruating if they are in a sensitive, sharp, or aggressive mood, or that using a tampon will “take” someone’s virginity. Also, rather than simply being acknowledged as a natural bodily function, it is considered rude or embarrassing to discuss periods in some communities around the world. Disguised as jokes or myths, period stigma affects more girls and women around the world than people realise, which is why a local initiative, Saye Company/Dukataze started the journey to sensitise more communities on sexual reproductive health with a comic book which was pre-launched this month. “As an organisation, we normally teach teenagers about sexual reproductive health and rights with focus on menstruation. Both girls and boys should get real information in relation to sexual reproductive health so that they won’t be lied to by anyone, hence, minimising the consequences that come with misinformation. Based on this, we created a comic book and anyone who wishes can access it,” says Sharon Mbabazi, a member of the organisation. Sharon Mbabazi hopes to enlighten more youth on reproductive health. 25-year-old Amina Umuhoza, the founder, says that the idea to start the company came from growing up in an environment where she saw family members, classmates and neighbours drop out of school due to period stigma. ‘Iriza’, the comic book, is about a girl who grew up without a mother. When she was 14, she had her first period. Because she only lived with her father, she was shy to share the news with him, yet she had no idea what a period was. Her classmates would laugh at her, and from that, she experienced harsh stigma. Later on, some students gave her false information and she had sex, after which she got pregnant. Eventually, based on her experience, Iriza helped other young people get real information on sexual reproductive health. When asked why they decided on a comic book, Umuhoza who is also the CEO, says, “We used a comic book to avoid boredom and allow our target audience to relate to the characters in the book in a more entertaining, but mostly, educational way. We strongly believe that a comic book is young adult-friendly since our target group is 13 to 21 year olds. We want them to discuss menstruation like any other topic and have enough information on how to behave, materials to use, and what to do while on one’s period. From this comic book, we aim at fighting unwanted pregnancies and seeing boys more involved in discussions about periods without thinking of it as dirty or bad.” The organisation emphasises the need for females to first learn and understand that menstruation is an amazing aspect of life, where every human being gets life from, as instigated by a Swedish organisation ‘My Period is Awesome’ that works closely with Saye. SAYE Company members at the pre-launch of the comic book. Period stigma is all about the stereotypes in society about menstruation and the negative way people perceive it, with tales that it is a punishment to women, or that it is dirty blood, among other things. So, teaching males as well to be more involved in the discussion would be an added value. Ibrahim Elyse Ngarambe, who attended the book’s pre-launch, says that men should be involved and never stigmatise menstruation. “Attending these kinds of event indicates that boys have a lot to learn and understand about menstruation, let’s cover the gap that the past created, and stand with our sisters.” After the official launch of ‘Iriza’, many copies will be donated to various schools, while some will be put in libraries and bookstores in case one needs to buy them. Saye currently has 2,350 beneficiaries. Student representatives.
