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"id": 34562,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mrs. Shebesh",
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"speaker": {
"id": 377,
"legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
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"content": "We must start by recognizing that even in the last Parliament, hon. Njoki Ndung’u, who was a nominated Member of Parliament, raised the issue of sanitary towels and a declaration was made at that time to subsidize the cost of sanitary towels. Only very recently, the Prime Minister also made a declaration of providing free sanitary towels to students in vulnerable areas. Subsequently, the Government allocated Kshs300 million for the same. All these are commendable endeavours and we thank those who have been at the forefront, including networks like the Girl Child Network that has for long advocated for the provision of sanitary towels for young girls. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the reason why this Motion is very necessary is that all good intentions need structures. Therefore, this structure will help to sustain these good intentions. It will also establish a place for this issue to rest. As I said, the Girl Child Network which is a civil society organization has been at the forefront and hon. Njoki Ndung’u was also at the forefront. The Prime Minister’s Office and by extension the Government has been at the forefront, but where does this issue lie eventually? It needs to be housed. As the Mover of the Motion has suggested, the Ministry of Education needs to set up a department that will look into this issue. As I said, all good intentions need structures. Let me speak more candidly on the issue of monthly periods. People have always wondered why we keep on repeating this issue and why women cannot deal with their issues. Periods come with many issues. First of all, periods come like clockwork. So, there is no time that you can say that they are not planned for. Every woman knows when her cycle happens and it is, therefore, possible to plan around periods. Periods also come with a lot of loss of blood. In areas where women and girls are vulnerable; where they cannot even afford sanitary pads, most likely, they cannot also afford food. Therefore, most of these girls become anaemic during this period. To add onto the anaemia due to loss of blood, periods also come sometimes with stomach cramps which are very painful. Sometimes one is not even able to concentrate in class because of cramps. You add this to mood swings due to change of hormones in the body and, therefore, you have a lot of mood swings at this time. If you add to this the fact that you cannot afford a sanitary pad, then these young girls do not only go through embarrassment when they do not have sanitary pads, but they also go through psychological trauma and physical distress. The provision of sanitary towels to these girls would help them deal with these other issues in a more comfortable manner. We do not want to be graphic, but it is true that some girls use old blankets, mattresses and rugs. These are not used and thrown away, but they are used, washed and re-used. I want you to imagine that picture in order to understand when we say that this is a dire situation. The amount of blood a girl loses is equivalent to, if I can remember what we were taught, almost one and a half cup per day and you can imagine having to wash that piece of mattress and re-use it. We are looking at hygienic conditions. It is during this time that most girls develop reproductive system issues. This is when they start getting complications because of use of improper sanitary methods. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this will also help eliminate the problems of reproductive health that we are having with women, especially on gynecological issues. So, all these things that we are speaking may seem like we are pushing too much but it is because the issues are very close to the hearts of women and are an impediment to why these girls do not do well. Lastly, we may give girls sanitary pads but somebody, a friend of mine who is very interested in this issue, Sophie, who seats with me in the same women’s group, told me that you can give all the sanitary pads you want but if you do not give panties, you might be losing it because most girls do not have panties to hold the sanitary pads with. If the provision of sanitary pads comes about, we must give girls in vulnerable areas panties. We must know that this issue must be addressed in whole. That is why we would like the Ministry of Education to take up this issue and put up a department. Money has already been allocated by the Government. Therefore, there is good will and all we need are structures. We thank the Government for the support but we ask for structures. With those few remarks, I want to support this Motion."
}