Royal support for Project Dignity
Besides the physical distress for girls who resort to utilising appalling alternatives to sanitary pads, they also suffer great humiliation from their male counterparts, leading to wide scale absenteeism.
KING Goodwill Zwelethini’s Bayede Trust has thrown its considerable weight behind Project Dignity and LifeLine South Africa, in a project to provide washable sanitary pads and panties to menstruating young women.
And the Trust is calling on the business and corporate world to use their CSI budgets to assist in making this a long-term solution to ‘a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions’.
‘Ongoing survey corroborates the fact that the average girl child between the ages of 13 and 18 in disadvantaged rural schools is 25 percent more prone to failure than the boy child,’ said Bayede Trust CEO, Rhana Naicker.
‘Of the nine million girls in South Africa within that age category, 2,5 million will surely fail as a result of the challenge of the lack of basic sanitary wear which hinders their attendance to school during their menstrual cycles.
‘Priority purchases for families is food for daily sustenance, while basic sanitary wear is considered a luxury item.
‘This disadvantages the girls on an average one week every month, accumulatively three months per year, which is a massive setback in their high school careers, causing a great failure rate.
‘Besides the physical distress for girls who resort to utilising appalling alternatives to sanitary pads, they also suffer great humiliation from their male counterparts, leading to wide scale absenteeism.
Suffer in silence
‘In the past, it was taboo to discuss the topic of menstruation, thus perpetuating the ongoing problems faced by young girls whilst they suffer in silence.
‘The monthly cycle of a woman should be celebrated, not dreaded and perceived as a disability.
‘The stigma has resulted in an enormous humanitarian crisis,’ said Naicker.
‘By joining Project Dignity, we can break the silence and suffering of our girl child.
‘The Subz product is the solution for improving self-esteem, knowledge on personal hygiene and reduction in absenteeism.’
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