{"id":21909,"date":"2025-02-26T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.destinyrescue.org\/?p=21909"},"modified":"2025-02-27T13:26:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T18:26:18","slug":"how-fighting-period-poverty-stops-exploitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.destinyrescue.org\/blog\/how-fighting-period-poverty-stops-exploitation\/","title":{"rendered":"How Fighting Period Poverty Stops Exploitation"},"content":{"rendered":"
So said Michael, a teacher in rural Kenya during a recent interview. After a decade of guiding students in the impoverished district, he knew the children\u2019s struggles all too well. Poverty-induced desperation leads to all sorts of hardship, but girls face unique challenges.<\/p>\n
Many are woefully unprepared for their first period; for a child who doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s coming, sudden, unexplained bleeding during class can be a frightening, embarrassing experience. Girls desperately searching for a way to maintain a semblance of normalcy during menstruation find that menstrual pads are prohibitively expensive for families barely earning enough to survive, a frustrating fact that causes even more embarrassment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
The girl cannot afford (pads). Upon feeling shame about this\u2026 she\u2019ll forget about studying, and she\u2019ll forget about her future,\u201d said Chase, a rescue agent in Kenya.<\/span><\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n The result is nothing less than devastating. Lost time in school leads to lower grades and higher dropout rates, which lead to difficulty finding a job. As a result, many of these girls find themselves forced into sexual exploitation just to survive. Social stigma about menstruation only compounds their suffering by complicating their developing sense of self-worth. <\/p>\n Girls on their period sometimes approach teachers like Michael for help, but many small schools simply don\u2019t have the resources to help. With no menstrual products to distribute and no alternatives for care, teachers are left with few options. \u201cMore often than not\u2026 we are forced to send them home,\u201d Michael said sadly.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n Michael assists a student in his classroom<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
An unfulfilled need<\/h2>\n