Empirical data discovered through focus group interviews
Kenya - 2023
281 women & 6 men interviewed - 7 locations
Kanguari, Kangemi, Kitui, Narok, Korogocho, Mathare, Kawangware
90% of Interviewees personally know women and girls who trade sex for pads.
“I want to tell girls: It’s not a shame to have menses. It is not a shame to try and ask for a sanitary pad. We should not be ashamed just to come to you and say, I really need some sanitary pads.”
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”We start with one girl at a time.”
“It was even shameful to ask for a sanitary towel from my dad. That is how I met the father of my child. I got pregnant with my body… My dad said if you know you’re pregnant, you can’t stay in the house. So I packed my things and left”
“If you have a sanitary towel, you can go. But if you don't, you have to stay at home”
“We dig a hole in the ground inside the house and sit on it to collect blood for sometimes 12 hours.”
