The term “menstrual health” has seen increased use across advocacy, programming, policy, and research, but has lacked a consistent, self-contained definition. As a rapidly growing field of research and practice a comprehensive definition is needed to (1) ensure menstrual health is prioritised as a unified objective in global health, development, national policy, and funding frameworks, (2) elucidate the breadth of menstrual health, even where different needs may be prioritised in different sectors, and (3) facilitate a shared vocabulary through which stakeholders can communicate across silos to share learning. To achieve these aims, we present a definition of menstrual health developed by the Terminology Action Group of the Global Menstrual Collective. We describe the definition development process, drawing on existing research and terminology, related definitions of health, and consultation with a broad set of stakeholders. Further, we provide elaboration, based on current evidence, to support interpretation of the definition.

Menstruation is shrouded in stigma and shame—that is the common refrain in burgeoning initiatives on menstrual health and hygiene. Public policies alone cannot undo stigma and enact social change, but they do interact with social norms. They can reflect and adopt stigmatizing attitudes and, as a result, institutionalize, formalize, and legitimize stigma; or they can actively challenge and denounce it and mitigate existing discrimination. Against this background, we explored whether and how policies on menstrual health and hygiene address menstrual stigma and advance menstrual literacy based on an analysis of 34 policy documents and 85 in-depth interviews with policy-makers and advocates in four countries: India, Kenya, Senegal, and the United States. We found that policiesrecognizedmenstrual stigma and set out to break the silence surrounding menstruation and advance menstrual education, but they did not contribute todismantlingmenstrual stigma. Policy-makers seemed constrained by the very stigma they sought to tackle, resulting in hesitancy and missed opportunities. Policies raised awareness of menstruation, often with great noise, but they simultaneously called for hiding and concealing any actual, visible signs of menstruation and its embodied messiness. Educational initiatives mostly promoted bodily management and control, rather than agency and autonomy. As a result, policies might have succeeded in breaking the silence around menstruation, but stigma cannot be broken as easily. We first need to recognize its (invisible) power and its impacts in all spheres of life in order to actively challenge, dismantle, and redefine it.

(2017). The Sustainable Development Goals and human rights: a critical early review. The International Journal of Human Rights: Vol. 21, Special Issue: The Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights: A Critical Early Review, pp. 1023-1028.

With a rallying cry of ‘leave no one behind’, the Sustainable Development Agenda has moved inequalities centre stage. A number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a cross-cutting focus on inequalities and the advancement of some communities that have historically experienced discrimination. However, the litmus test for whether the SDGs will truly ‘leave no one behind’ is not the inclusion of such (aspirational) language, but whether this language will translate into implementation. In that regard, monitoring through indicators will play an important role. As metrics pegged to specific targets, indicators have the power to concentrate effort and attention. Moving beyond aggregate outcomes will require that the data related to these indicators be sufficiently disaggregated to demonstrate the existence, magnitude and interplay of multiple forms of inequalities. However, despite a mandate to produce disaggregated data, there has been little attention to disaggregation based on some of the most important axes of discrimination – especially race or ethnicity. Human rights call for focusing on those who are often pushed to the margins of society – through political, social and economic processes as well as by data collection and analysis itself.

Over the last decade, many countries have adopted policies addressing menstrual needs. Our research explores the opportunities and challenges that have shaped these initiatives and critically examines their scope and substantive focus. Our study analyses developments in four countries: India, Kenya, Senegal, and the United States. It is based on an analysis of 34 policy documents and interviews with 85 participants active in policy-making or advocacy. Across countries, we found a predominant policy focus on tangible and material outcomes, such as menstrual products and facilities, that is informed by a narrow perception of menstrual needs as the management of bleeding. A number of drivers influenced policy-makers to keep this focus, especially the key narrative around menstrual pads as a perceived solution to school absenteeism combined with sensationalisation in the media and the quest for quantifiable results. Menstrual stigma is so ingrained that it continues to constrain policy-makers and advocates themselves by perceiving and presenting menstruation as a problem to be fixed, managed, and hidden. When considering new policy directions, we need to create capacity for a holistic menstrual policy landscape that overcomes systemic barriers to addressing the needs of menstruators that are largely rooted in menstrual stigma.