SANITARY PADS SHOULD BE FREE; CONDOMS SHOULD BE SOLD

By: KAYIHURA ISINGIZWE LAURA MELISSA, Maranyundo GIrls School

Roughly half of the female population --around 26 percent of the global population are of reproductive age. Most women menstruate each month for about two to seven days. Yet, as normal as it is, menstruation is stigmatized around the world. Why should pads be paid? If no one chooses to be a girl. No one gets sex monthly or daily naturally, It’s the decision that two or more people decide to put into actions. I write to fill the page, preferably with nothing. This ambition was in me before I could write. I grew up in a family where this topic has not been one of the breakfasts, lunch, or dinner discussions. Not even have I heard a husband asking a wife, "how is your period today?" Menstruation has been and still is an issue that has been discussed in private by females in most cases. Fathers might have been involved at some point, but this rarely happens.

Sanitary pads are expensive. Taking Rwanda as a sample, it has more than 8 million women in the data provided 60% of them are poor. If more than 1000 homes in Rwanda live under the line of poverty meaning that it’s hard for them to access food, water and shelter i.e., basic needs. One sanitary pad costs 1000FRW and one needs at least 2 packets of pads in a month and as the statistics shows that more than 60 percent of women in Rwanda are poor which becomes hard for them to get even food. In this way sanitary pads should be free for every girl because us girls do not have control over monthly periods.

The way condoms are not sold encourages people to do sex freely. Since there is no price for condoms most youth are engaged in sexual activities. Some girls from poor families join prostitution since the is no

price for condoms and they are earning free money i.e., investing in a business with zero capital, the Rwandan constitution and law does not support prostitution so free condoms leads to violation of law which can result to imprisonment. Imagine an 18 years old girl imprisoned for prostitution trying to earn a living and ends up in jail for five years this hardly destroys his carrier or his natural talents that she had but will not let the world know because she is passing her fine years in jail. On the other hand, free condoms control the increase in population growth but that's not necessary right now since they are giving free pills to women who want to control birth. The main point of this is that our culture is being lost slowly due to young women engaged in sexual activities at an early age. Condoms should be sold at a higher price to discourage sexual activities in youth.

Sanitary pads increase hygiene. Low-income people across our country usually use pieces of clothes as sanitary pads which is also not healthy because it causes infections most of the time and doesn’t improve hygiene at any point. When it causes infection, the low-income population has to get treated at a high price making them use 60% of their profits since it is also hard for them to afford insurance and get treatments at higher prices or even some families do not believe in modern treatments and prefer to use local treatments which may result in death.

In a nutshell the world nowadays is giving women chances because it was found that they are also able to do what men can do. In order to continue supporting women the authorities should also put into consideration those who aren't able to pay for their sanitary pads as they are expensive and not reusable. The world needs to be aware of this problem. People do not care about how there are other people struggling to earn a living and put their desires first by giving free condoms to everyone without considering young girls selling themselves to earn money to buy sanitary pads. We all have to take this problem as our own and work hard together to bring fairness to those young ladies struggling out there.