Note: We encourage you to listen to the audio if you are able, as it includes emotion not captured by the transcript. Please check the corresponding audio before using any quotes. So I just got really worried. Please stay where you are! This affects someone you love, someone you care about, you want to see being happy and healthy. Menstruation is one of the inflection points of gender inequity, and when we can really see what we mean when we talk about the oppression of your sisters, mothers and friends.
And that has effects that ripple across communities, economies, even countries. Amongst those who do have access to products, the stigma attached to having a period can still be debilitating.
And that has real consequences for our lives. And that might be fine, you know, 2, years ago. But I think in the 21st century, we can move beyond that. I grew up in a Muslim household with Afghan culture, and I was never in my life made more aware of it than the day I started menstruating.
From what? I asked her when periods finish. It was only later when I went to school and told my friends β girls and boys β that I realized only half of us were ever likely to get it. And on occasion, to hurry up and come. Look: The culture, belief system and circumstance of where you live right now determines a lot of what a period can mean. But culture, religion and circumstances are determined by women and men in communities. We are all responsible for how we talk about periods.
It was the second week of secondary school. And on that day, a boy that used to sit next to me in form time touched my back, my lower back. I think he was trying to stroke it or something. No, he pushed past me in the corridor and he stroked past my lower back. I then went home and, as per usual, I went to the toilet. And what do I see? I was pulled out of it by my parents. So I thought, I literally thought I was dying. My cousin was at my house at that time, one of my eldest cousins.
