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Accepted Paper:
Menstrual taboos in Mozambique
Catarina Simões Mavila Magaia
(Austral)
Hélder Domingos
(Associação FACE de Água e Saneamento)
Paper short abstract:
Taboos surrounding first menstruation affect girls, who are conforming with traditional ceremonies and adapt their everyday practices, as well as household members which must provide particular infrastructures. This presentation discusses these taboos and their consequences in cities of Mozambique.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation examines the taboos surrounding first menstruation and sanitation and their consequences for women in cities of Mozambique.
We organized workshops and interviews with women to discuss their experiences and practices regarding sanitation. Throughout these interactions, several taboos surrounding menstruation and the first menstrual cycle were repeatedly mentioned by elders. These include the need to build separate facilities for menstruating women, to hide menstrual products and blood especially from men, and interdiction to perform specific activities such as cooking, sexual intercourse and leaving the house.
In the public sphere, these taboos are described as ancient and no longer in use, or limited to distant rural areas, especially by adult women and men seeking to present themselves as "modern." In practice, however, we noticed that handling menstruation remains confined to women, and cultural norms persists, both as a topic and process that has considerable influence on how menstruation is dealt with.
Our findings point to the need to discuss more openly menstruation, as a process, a series of needs, and a practice to be included in infrastructural and social considerations in order to advance just sanitation from a gender perspective.
Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality, and to see the links to virtual rooms. Log in
Accepted Paper:
Catarina Simões Mavila Magaia (Austral) Hélder Domingos (Associação FACE de Água e Saneamento)
Paper short abstract:
Paper long abstract:
This presentation examines the taboos surrounding first menstruation and sanitation and their consequences for women in cities of Mozambique.
We organized workshops and interviews with women to discuss their experiences and practices regarding sanitation. Throughout these interactions, several taboos surrounding menstruation and the first menstrual cycle were repeatedly mentioned by elders. These include the need to build separate facilities for menstruating women, to hide menstrual products and blood especially from men, and interdiction to perform specific activities such as cooking, sexual intercourse and leaving the house.
In the public sphere, these taboos are described as ancient and no longer in use, or limited to distant rural areas, especially by adult women and men seeking to present themselves as "modern." In practice, however, we noticed that handling menstruation remains confined to women, and cultural norms persists, both as a topic and process that has considerable influence on how menstruation is dealt with.
Our findings point to the need to discuss more openly menstruation, as a process, a series of needs, and a practice to be included in infrastructural and social considerations in order to advance just sanitation from a gender perspective.
The making and unmaking of sanitation taboos across urban Africa. The OVERDUE project
Session 1 Thursday 7 July, 2022, -