I never realized how lucky I am!

I consider myself lucky because I have never had to worry about having lack of access to menstrual products. It is a privilege that I have been living with without even noticing. But do you know how I discovered this? It is through a workshop done by an NGO named Wing Woman Lebanon. As a MEPI TLS scholarship student, I had the chance to register for several workshops. While seeing the list of the workshops, a title caught my attention: “Menstrual Health and Period Poverty.” When I read it, I was motivated to register for it because I paid attention only to the “menstrual health phrase.” I assumed that the workshop would talk about information and stigma related to menstruation, something I’m interested in. To be honest, I didn’t take the word “poverty” into account because I had never been introduced before to the concept of poverty in relation to menstruation. This reinforces the privilege I have been living with.

At the beginning of the workshop, the co-founder of Wing Woman Lebanon, Meelie Pemberton, started to explain the concept of menstrual poverty. This took me back to my memories when my friend and I used to talk about the lack of pads present in the school restrooms, and how we felt that it is a right for a girl who gets an unexpected period to obtain a pad easily. We felt that this is one of the most unjust things for a girl’s basic needs. However, when the definition of menstrual poverty was explained during the workshop, I realized that our thoughts about inequalities for women’s needs were nothing compared to menstrual poverty. This is because we had access to a safe place to manage our hygiene, a conversation with each other about menstruation, and a bunch of menstrual products waiting for us in our homes. This is considered a luxury to other women because, as learned from the workshop, menstrual poverty is a complete lack of menstrual products, safe place to change and dispose of products, safe place to talk about menstruation, and accurate knowledge about menstruation.

At this point, I started to feel disappointed in myself for not being aware of such an issue. But the most shocking part was not only the concept of menstrual poverty it was also the video she showed us during the workshop. This video is about real Lebanese women speaking about their struggles with menstrual poverty since the beginning of the economic crisis. The thing that truly left a lasting impression on my heart and soul from the video is a girl that refuses to go to school because her mother can’t afford the price of the pads and only able to use towels during menstruation. As a person who honors every minute spent on education, I feel heartbroken that these girls are lacking two basic needs at the same time, which are education and access to menstrual products. Other girls are only able to use newspapers as a menstrual product. Can you imagine how long these women have been suffering and how much health risks they are putting themselves in? All of this tells us that the society and the Lebanese government failed to recognize or even respond to the urgent needs of women.

As part of their efforts in reducing menstrual poverty, Wing Woman Lebanon introduced their initiative, which is distributing reusable pads that are cost- free and eco-friendly. Their initiative also let women have job opportunities by letting them create their own reusable pads. I felt inspired by their initiative especially how a woman is empowering other women.

After the workshop ended, I still had not overcome the fact that this was my first time seeing the video about the struggles of Lebanese women. This is why I headed directly to my sister and mother to see if they actually were aware about this video. Their faces showed shock. I even tried to let my friend watch the video to know if she had watched it before, but also said that it was her first time seeing it. I was more frustrated that this video is not always going viral on social media to show the vulnerabilities that Lebanese women are facing. Why, when it comes to women, is there an overlook and consideration that their needs are not a priority?

This made me decide that I will do a gender activity with Wing Woman Lebanon by making video posts on Instagram. I just couldn’t resist not talking and informing everyone around me about this type of poverty and how Wing Woman Lebanon is addressing it. I wanted to stand up for those women and girls who are silenced by the societal and political neglect. This is because every woman deserves to flourish like a flower in the sun and not be a dead flower occupied by the darkness of neglect and barriers.

Jana Ibrik

Jana Ibrik is a second year undergraduate student in Health Communication and MEPI-TLS scholar at the American University of Beirut.