science

Menstrual Hygiene Day

Menstrual Hygiene Day is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Menstrual Hygiene Day rather than just read about it. In short: Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD, MH Day in short) is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) at a global level. It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2013 and observed for the first time in 2014.

Key takeaways

Menstrual Hygiene Day belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Menstrual Hygiene Day to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Menstrual Hygiene Day from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD, MH Day in short) is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) at a global level. It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2013 and observed for the first time in 2014. In developing countries, women's choices of menstrual hygiene materials are often limited by the costs, availability and social norms. Adequate sanitation facilities and access to feminine hygiene products are important but opening discussion making adequate education for women and girls is of equal importance. Research has found that not having access to menstrual hygiene management products can keep girls home from school during their period each month. Menstrual Hygiene Day is an occasion for publicizing information in the media, including social media, and to engage decision-makers in policy dialogue. The day aims to advocate for the integration of menstrual hygiene management into global, national and local policies and programs.

Background

Menstrual hygiene management can be particularly challenging for females in developing countries, where clean water and toilet facilities are often inadequate. In addition, traditional cultures make it difficult to discuss menstruation openly. This limits access to relevant and important information about the normal functions of the female body. This directly affects their health, education and dignity. Access to information can be considered a human right.

History In 2012, several organizations involved in public health began to break the silence on MHM and turn their attention to the issue globally, including grassroots organizers, social entrepreneurs and United Nations agencies. In May 2013, WASH United used a 28-day social media campaign, for example on Twitter, called "May #MENSTRAVAGANZA" to generate awareness about menstruation and MHM as important considerations within water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) development initiatives. Those involved with the social media campaign, including WASH Advocates, Girls' Globe and Ruby Cup, were encouraged by the positive feedback for the "May #MENSTRAVAGANZA" and they decided to create a global awareness day for menstruation. On 28 May 2014, many people around the world celebrated Menstrual Hygiene Day for the first time with rallies, exhibitions, movie screenings, workshops and speeches. There were 145 partners involved with the first MHD. For 2015, a hashtag campaign on social media lent a light-hearted look at challenging societal norms with the tag #IfMenHadPeriods. The campaign by WaterAid, released in time for Menstrual Hygiene Awareness Day, created videos "spoof ads" where men are proud of having their periods and used "Manpons" instead of tampons. The campaign helped "raise awareness about women who don't have access to 'safe water, hygiene and sanitation,' when their monthly visitor comes along." Another aspect of the campaign is that it helped bring men into the conversation so that they could "help tackle the stigma in largely patriarchal societies and encourage women and girls to embrace their cycle with pride instead of shame." In Uganda, 2015 celebrations kicked off with a march to Parliament where a charter on MHM was signed and then the march continued to the National theatre for presentations by primary and secondary schools.

Objectives

Raising awareness Menstrual hygiene day is meant to serve as a platform to bring together individuals, organizations, social businesses and the media to create a united and strong voice for women and girls. It is designed to break the silence about menstrual hygiene management. The objectives of MHD include:

To address the challenges and hardships many women and girls face during their menstruation. To highlight the positive and innovative solutions being taken to address these challenges. To catalyze a growing, global movement that recognizes and supports girls' and women's rights and build partnerships among those partners on national and local level. To engage in policy dialogue and actively advocate for the integration of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) into global, national and local policies and programs. To create an occasion for media work, including social media. Menstrual Hygiene Day makes audible and visible a growing movement that promotes body literacy and autonomy, as well as gender equality. May 28 has symbolic meaning: May is the 5th month of the year, and the average length of menstruation is 5 days every month. Also, the menstrual cycle averages 28 days.

Government accountability For partners working in developing countries, the day is not only an opportunity to raise awareness, but also to strengthen government accountability related to MHM issues. For example, in 2015 the Ministry of Health in Kenya launched a national MHM strategy. Kenya, jointly with UNICEF, held a virtual conference on Menstrual Hygiene Management in Schools that same year.

See also Feminine hygiene products Global Handwashing Day (15 October) Human right to water and sanitation International Day of Action for Women's Health Lists of special days: List of awareness days, List of commemorative days Sustainable Development Goal 6 World Toilet Day (19 November)

References

External links Official page of Menstrual Hygiene Day Documents about menstrual hygiene management in library of Sustainable Sanitation Alliance

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Menstrual Hygiene Day

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Menstrual Hygiene Day claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Menstrual Hygiene Day before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Menstrual Hygiene Day ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Menstrual Hygiene Day

In research: Menstrual Hygiene Day appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Menstrual Hygiene Day in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Menstrual Hygiene Day is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Culture and menstruation, Health awareness days, Hygiene, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Menstrual Hygiene Day outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Menstrual Hygiene Day in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Menstrual Hygiene Day means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Menstrual Hygiene Day out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Menstrual Hygiene Day in simple terms?

Why does Menstrual Hygiene Day matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Menstrual Hygiene Day?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Menstrual Hygiene Day.