On 28 May, World Menstrual Hygiene Day reminds us of a reality that is all too often ignored: access to menstrual protection is a fundamental lever in the right to education. For Action Education Switzerland, this mobilisation is an opportunity to emphasise that managing menstruation is not just a health issue, but a sine qua non for keeping girls in school.

Menstrual insecurity: an invisible obstacle for 500 million girls

Every month, more than two billion people around the world menstruate. Yet, according to the World Bank, around 500 million women and girls lack the resources they need to go through their cycle with dignity. Deprived of protection, appropriate sanitary facilities or information, they see their fundamental rights curtailed.

And the cost of taboo in Switzerland? In Switzerland, it is estimated that a woman spends around CHF 4,000 during her lifetime for her periods. According to a study of the canton of Vaud, Menstrual insecurity affects up to 9 % of vocational school pupils, and 20 % of them have already had to sacrifice a basic necessity to buy protection. Faced with an emergency, the cantons of Geneva and Vaud are now deploying free protection in schools.

At Action Education Switzerland, we're taking this fight a step further: while lack of access can complicate schooling in Switzerland, around the world it causes millions of girls to drop out of school completely and permanently.

Why do rules cause people to drop out of school?

Whether in the North or South, the onset of menstruation is often synonymous with anxiety and shame, due to a lack of sexual health education. There are many barriers to educational continuity:

• Recurrent absenteeism In sub-Saharan Africa, UNESCO estimates that one girl in ten misses school during her cycle, representing a loss of 20 % of annual school time.
• The infrastructure deficit Without separate, secure latrines equipped with a water point, teenage girls prefer to stay at home rather than risk a lack of privacy.
• Social stigma : In Benin, a survey shows that 29 % of girls are absent from school for fear of being teased by their classmates.

These repeated absences are compounded by family pressure: to avoid the risk of early pregnancy outside marriage, some families choose to withdraw their daughters from school for good as soon as they reach puberty.

Making rules everyone's business: the key to change

For Action Education, access to school is a collective responsibility. Deconstructing taboos requires the involvement of the whole community, including boys and men.

• Within the school : Awareness-raising sessions help to normalise menstruation for boys, drastically reducing harassment and teasing.
• In the heart of the villages The association trains teachers, community leaders and religious leaders. In Madagascar, the Sandratra project relies on «Bandy Miabo» (positive men) clubs: male volunteers who deconstruct sexist stereotypes and actively defend the rights of girls.
• In families : Parental support is the first line of defence against the isolation of girls during their periods.

«Menstruation is a normal process. There's no need to isolate our daughters as some rites prescribe. It's up to the community to support them so that they can take care of themselves and their studies». Raymond Danton, President of the Gonfandji parents' association (Benin)

Our practical solutions on the ground to combat menstrual insecurity

Action Education deploys programmes adapted to local realities so that rules no longer dictate the future of young girls.

Benin: The relay of resource persons

Through the Projet d'Appui à la Gouvernance et aux Initiatives Relais pour une éducation de qualité (AGIR-Bénin), Action Education has contributed to the training of 128 resource people (educational authorities and parents) to support girls. On the menu:

• Organisation of «talks» to free up the floor in rural areas.
• Distribution of washable towel kits, enabling girls to return to school and sport.

Burkina Faso: Adapting the school environment

In Burkina Faso, the dropout rate is massive: while 76.3 % of girls complete primary school, only 46 % finish lower secondary school (UNESCO, 2025). The SCOLFILLE Post-Primary project in the province of Ziro responds in three ways:

• Mobility : Distribution of bicycles to make journeys of more than 10 km safer.
• Autonomy Workshops to make washable sanitary towels from local loincloths.
• Infrastructure : Renovation of intimate and adapted sanitary blocks.

A political and humanitarian imperative

Putting an end to menstrual insecurity is a budgetary and social emergency. To offer every girl a fair future, it is imperative that we :

• Make sanitary protection affordable.
• Invest massively in decent school infrastructure.
• Guaranteeing the right to information and autonomy.

Because girls' education can't wait, and their periods even less so.