STAND WITH YOUNG GIRLS AGAINST PERIOD POVERTY
Today, you can help girls like Helen* stay in school, manage their periods with dignity, and build the future they dream of.
For many girls across the Pacific, getting a period doesn’t just mean discomfort. It can mean missing school, falling behind in class, and facing shame simply because they don’t have access to basic menstrual products, clean water, or a safe toilet.
No girl should have to choose between her education and her period.
But every month, many do.
15-year-old Helen loves school, spending time with her friends, and dreams of becoming a teacher one day, just like her father.
But every month, like many girls around the world, she must leave her desk, her class, her education.
When Helen gets her period unexpectedly at school, she faces the same fear that so many girls experience and must make a choice that no girl should ever have to make:
Stay home and fall behind. Or go to school and risk embarrassment and stigma.
Without pads, clean water, or a private toilet at school, many girls feel they have no choice but to miss class.
Your gift can help:
✓ Provide relief with the help of reusable menstrual pads so girls have reliable protection and can manage their periods with comfort and confidence.
✓ Provide dignity with a safe, private toilet that locks giving girls the security they need to manage their periods at school.
✓ Create transformational change through community wide education that helps break harmful stigma and misinformation for future generations.
18-year-old Margaret was recently appointed Head Girl at her high school in the Solomon Islands.
She dreams of becoming a doctor so she can care for her family and community.
But she has seen firsthand how period poverty affects girls around her.
“Menstruation causes girls to miss classes. If girls miss classes, they will fall behind in school.”
Margaret says that when schools have proper toilets and teachers who understand girls’ needs, students feel more confident attending school during their periods.
“[With] proper toilets for girls’ privacy during menstruation, girls feel more comfortable attending school during menstruation cycle.”
Helen and Margaret have big dreams for the future, like many girls around the world. With the right support, you can help turn them into reality.
Today, you can stand with young girls as they fight against period poverty and break the cycle. You can help:
Provide a girl like Helen with supplies to manage her period like a menstrual hygiene kit, including reusable pads that last up to 12 months
Build safe toilets with running water and locks, so girls like Margaret have the privacy they need to manage their periods with dignity
Facilitate female health, hygiene, and menstrual workshops in schools to help break the cycle of stigma and misinformation surrounding menstruation
By giving a gift today, you can make your mark on Period Poverty. Stand with young girls in the Pacific and around the world who must face this choice every month: Stay home and fall behind. Or go to school and risk bleeding through her clothes in front of everyone.
Donations of $5 or more are tax-deductible.
*Name changed to protect privacy.
Oxfam is a worldwide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against injustice. Oxfam Aotearoa is a registered charity with the New Zealand Charities Register (registration CC24641). Donations are tax refundable.