Throughout the world, social and cultural taboos and restrictions exist for women and girls during their menstrual period - in the extreme, women in very rural areas are restricted to separate huts during this time. Other activities may be restricted, such as preparing and consuming food, socializing, mobility, and importantly, school attendance. There is no evidence that menstrual blood is unclean or dangerous and therefore it has often been concluded that these traditions exist largely as a strong cultural norm. To the extent that these traditions are harmful for women, this project measures whether these taboos could be overcome with technological advancement in sanitary products. In particular, given a menstrual cup, women may be able to keep their periods private, thus increasing their mobility and activities during their menstrual cycles. This privacy may also lead to an increase in self-esteem and may have strong impacts on later outcomes.
Despite anecdotal evidence and qualitative research suggesting both cultural and logistical reasons why menstruation may affect women and girls, there have been no prior empirical studies, to our knowledge, that have examined the effects on social and economic outcomes.

In this project, we plan to randomize the allocation of a re-usable menstrual cup to school-age girls and their mothers with the specific aims are to:
(1) Measure the uptake of a menstrual cup in rural Nepal among adolescent girls and their mothers where the product has not yet been introduced.
(2) Measure the effect of sanitary products on school attendance, attainment, and health of adolescent girls
(3) Measure the economic and health effects of having menstrual cups on mothers
(4) Measure the effects of having the technology to keep menstrual cycles private on menstruation taboos

The proposed study will contribute significantly to our understanding of menstruation and the effects of having sanitary products, especially in areas of Africa and Asia where the women do not have access to such products and live within particularly restrictive cultural norms. The broader research hypothesis to be tested is that women and girls who have sanitary products for their menstrual cycle and can keep their menstrual cycle private will have better health, be more likely to attend school, less likely to drop out of school, and will have greater economic and educational gains.

The study includes 4 schools selected in Chitwan, Nepal and include adolescent girls and their mothers.

in progress

Dirgha Ghimire, Emily Oster, Rebecca Thornton.

Papers Forthcoming.

The Institute for Social Environmental Research (ISER) in Nepal

Nepal

Education, Gender, Race, and Caste

University of Chicago and Harvard University