Part I: Bloody Taboos

121.7 years are to pass before the gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa is closed, according to the World Economic Forum (2021). Cross-country disparities are wide, but the general trend is that progress is stalled - even “slightly reversed”. So what does this mean for women and their periods?

Compounded by water inaccessibility, the consequences reside in shame, social exclusion and missed school days. Figure 1 displays words commonly associated with ‘menstruation’ across Africa, demonstrating the psychological trauma that emerges from misconceptions. Socio-cultural norms perpetuate cycles of inequality that will do little to speed up these ‘121.7 years’. 

Figure 1: created via Monkey Learn Word Cloud

Sworn to Secrecy

One particular article spurred me to dedicate this week to the topic of menstruation. A study conducted in the Tatale-Sanguli District of northern Ghana discovered a striking cultural norm. Before menstruation, women - the primary water collectors - must fetch enough water for men to use throughout the week. It’s a taboo for males to drink water collected by menstruating females, since they are considered “dirty”, “polluted” and “impure”.

Alarmingly, studies have shown that beliefs such as these, are reinforced by men and women across the continent. A 'culture of concealment' exists, with “older women treating it as a secret only to be spoken about with other women”. Are women socialising boys and girls to accept values that prevent gender equality? Boys grow up to be men with superiority complexes, whilst females inherit internalised shame. 

Education, interrupted

Shunned for a natural bodily function, female time-space activities are dictated by embedded patriarchy. For young girls, periods act as a catalyst for school absenteeism. Across Ghana, 40% miss school when menstruating, equating to 5 absent school days a month. In the Tatale-Sanguli District, this figure is likely higher, with girls having to collect water ahead of their period as well. 

Driven by taboos and social exclusion, female needs have not been considered within infrastructural planning. School facilities lack the sanitary bins needed to dispose of period waste. In addition, where male and female toilets are not separated, they become sites of anxiety for young girls. Therefore, the taboos that inform infrastructure, prevent gender-sensitive needs from being implemented. 

What’s more, is that these toilets are rarely connected to a piped water system; depriving females of the ability to wash themselves and flush the toilet during menstruation. This contributes to feelings of distress and humiliation that prevent school attendance. Instead, girls spend time collecting water to wash themselves and their clothes with; a task that becomes more frequent during menstruation and more of a hindrance due to disjointed water infrastructure.

Figure 2: School Absenteeism Rate

Consequently, reduced education has been linked to low levels of income and the perpetuation of taboos. Girls become mothers who pass on feelings of shame to their daughters, generating a domino effect that sustains intergenerational gender gaps. 

But who set off the first domino?

Kinder, Kirche and Kuche

There is the tendency to promote gender equality as a value inherent to the West; a phenomenon that has not yet reached a ‘backwards’ Africa. Equally, is the assumption that Africa’s timeline begins with a colonial birth and ends with a post-colonial present. Little attention has been given to the continent’s pre-colonial history. 

Disclosure: Africa was a continent rich in social practices and culture before being exploited by an imperial regime; culture that was not inherently patriarchal - as assumed today. In fact, in ancient African societies, “the typical pattern was the matriarchal clan” (UNESCO, 1984: 100). Under matriarchy, women were permitted to inherit property and husbands were expected to move into their wife’s house. Government was divided between men and women in a “dual-sex complementary political system” (Smith, 2008: 359). Contrary to popular belief, African traditions aren’t inherently discriminative of women.

By ignoring this, we fail to hold European countries accountable for the importation of gendered roles. Kinder (children), Kirche (church) and Kuche (kitchen) from Germany, for example, brought with it a new understanding of women as domestic, hidden figures. Colonial authorities also established formal education exclusive to men, which compounded efforts to subordinate women and fuel gendered segregation today. Simultaneously, explicit beliefs about female menstruation were being taught through Christianity:  

Doesn’t this sound a lot like the period taboo being enforced across northern Ghana today? Before being critical about African social norms, let's recognise who might’ve instilled them.