Typically, the first thing you do when you find a red stain at the back of your skirt in public is to ask the nearest woman around you if she has a spare pad in her bag. Even if she doesn’t, in five minutes, you’ll easily find another woman with a sanitary pad to spare.
Due to inflation, many women can no longer afford the price of this small act of sisterhood. You’ll have better luck walking to the nearest kiosk to buy a pack of pads than finding a stranger who will give you a pad.
In the last three years, the cost of menstrual products has tripled, with sanitary pads ranging from 900 naira to 7000 naira. According to UNICEF, an estimated 37 million Nigerian women and girls cannot afford these products.
Many people assume period poverty only affects women and girls in rural areas, but this is untrue. The cost of period care has affected the average Nigerian woman at some point. Still, access to affordable period care has not yet been made a public health issue.
In this article, four Nigerian women talk about dealing with period poverty and exploring possible alternatives to traditional menstrual products.
“I borrow sanitary pads and return them when I have money.” – Fati* 19
When I started my period seven years ago, a pack of the best brand of pads in the market cost ₦ 250. Now, the same brand costs ₦1,100, but the quality is really terrible. The pads are not as absorbent anymore, they are uncomfortable, and they barely stick to my panties. I have had to switch to another slightly cheaper brand since I can no longer afford it. The quality of the brand I now use is not any better, but at least this one costs ₦900 for a pack of 10. I use two packs per cycle, so I spend ₦2k on pads per cycle. I know it’s not a lot of money for a lot of people, but I only receive ₦20k for my monthly upkeep; it is a lot of money for me. In some months, I cannot afford to buy pads, and I have to borrow a few pieces from the women around me, which I return when I can afford to buy pads again.
“I don’t change my pad until it is completely soaked” – Nimi* 20
In my first year of university, I remember going to the store to buy sanitary pads and being shocked to see that a pack of the brand I used then had gone from ₦400 to ₦ 700. Three years later and that same brand now costs 1,500 naira. Pads and garri used to be the two things I could afford at any time, no matter how broke I was. Now, I find myself managing eight pads through each four-day cycle. I wear each one until it is completely soaked before throwing it away. Sometimes I wear one overnight, take my bath and reuse it the following day. I know it’s unhygienic, and I suffer from pad rashes, but it’s either I do that or I run out of pads mid-cycle.
I can’t even say I have a preferred brand of pad. Anytime I get to the store, I just ask for the cheapest brand they have and buy it, and when I have money, after food, the first thing I think of buying in bulk is sanitary pads. I’m scared of being stuck at home because my period came at a point when I didn’t have money.
“Only wealthy people can afford tampons” – Laide* 22
Like many Nigerian girls, I started my period with sanitary pads, and I remember that a pack of jumbo pads was ₦500 naira. I hate using pads because they are really uncomfortable for me. I remember wanting to try tampons at the time, but I couldn’t afford them because they cost ₦3k per pack.
Once I started working, I switched to tampons. When I started using tampons, a pack cost ₦4k, but now the same brand of tampons costs ₦7k per pack. Two years ago, I became very interested in sustainable living and saving the environment. I decided to invest in menstrual cups, and I got one for ₦20k. It will most likely be twice that price now. It works very well, but I can’t use it if I’m leaving home for more than a few hours. I’m mostly reliant on tampons, but it has gotten to the point where I can barely afford them. Having to spend 16,000 naira every period is outrageous.
Because of the cost, I manage my tampons and only use them when I have to leave home for long periods. I use sanitary pads the rest of the time and just bear the discomfort. Sustainability is for people who have money, abeg.
“Reusable pads aren’t the messiah you think they are.” – Nenye* 20
I didn’t realise so many girls suffer from period poverty until I partnered with an NGO to make reusable cloth pads for an outreach to a government secondary school. The school is just a few minutes from where I live in the city, so I was shocked to find hundreds of girls admitting to using rags for their periods because sanitary pads (disposable and reusable) were a luxury they could not afford.
Each of these girls was given a reusable pad for free, but typically each of the pads costs ₦1000 to make, and they retail for ₦1500. If you do the math, each one costs as much as a pack of pads. For five days, you would need at least three to five. A girl with a medium to heavy flow would need to change the pads every three hours. The set of pads would also need to be replaced every six months. There is little difference between the cost of reusable pads and disposable ones.
I made the pads by stacking three layers of fabric and sewing them together. The first layer is cotton, the second layer is terry cloth (the fabric used to make towels), and the last layer is nylon. I tried using one of the pads after production, and they were not very comfortable. It felt like I was sitting on a bulky cloth. Washing the pads can also be tricky because if they aren’t properly sterilised, they could cause a vaginal infection. If bathing soap got this expensive, I’m sure there would have been a riot by now.
For a woman, period care is a basic necessity that is as essential as food or shelter. Yet nobody treats pads like petrol or bread. Period poverty is still a private problem and rising pad prices have made cutting corners on hygiene the average Nigerian woman’s reality. Regardless of the fact that periods do not pause for inflation.
Next Read: What It Takes to Get Girls Vaccinated Against HPV in Lagos
