Fighting Period Poverty in Kazakhstan
My name is Alina Kurusheva and I am a 24 years old foreign exchange student in Europe from Kazakhstan and a menstrual activist. I created a one-person project called “Umai” (inst: @umaicup) in March 2021 to contribute to the menstrual movement from a Kazakh point of view. In Kazakh culture, we used to believe in Tengri, the god of everything, and his female version — Umai. Umai (Umay) — is the goddess of women, fertility, and children. Her name can also be understood in some languages as a “womb”. My goal for “Umai” was to educate people about their bodies and health, help them fight period stigma, and destroy the taboo around menstruation. I wanted to make the information available not only in Russian but most importantly in the Kazakh language. Due to the long legacy of forced colonial russification, a lot of quality information is missing in my native language. But in recent years this paradigm has shifted, and more and more information and services are now provided in Kazakh.
For Menstrual Hygiene Day in 2021, I (as Umai) and a volunteer sex-ed organization SOAS (Speak Out About Sex) conducted the first research project on menstrual poverty in Kazakhstan’s history. This research was not sponsored but was our attempt at making period poverty visible. Poverty in Kazakhstan is very common as economically, Kazakhstan is a part of the “developing world” and has an imposing gap between rich and poor people. While the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the entire world, the impact has been especially hard on my country as many people have lost their jobs and source of stable income. And of course, it has affected the accessibility of menstrual products.
I find it interesting that in most countries, you can get free condoms easier than free menstrual products. While I believe that nobody should get pregnant against their will, sex is a choice and menstruation is not. There must be similar efforts to make menstrual management products free and accessible to all that need them. It gives me hope and inspiration to see how Scotland, France, and New Zealand are managing menstrual poverty on a national level. I dare to live and be a part of something similar in Kazakhstan and all over the world.
–
Since the age of 19, I have used menstrual cups as a response to the environmental impact of disposable menstrual products. It is important to acknowledge that in this case, my shift toward reusable menstrual cups was my own choice. Unfortunately, choice is not always available to menstruators who use reusable and self-made menstrual management options. For example, my mother would tell me about her experience as a student in the 80s who used self-made menstrual products. It wasn’t until the late 90s that classic disposable pads and tampons were available in Kazakhstan stores. And while I was aware of alternative menstrual management products and the reality of poverty in Kazakhstan, period poverty was still something that was foreign to me.
I realized that I had never thought critically about menstruation simply because no one in my community ever spoke about it. While I had never personally experienced period poverty, I realized that plenty of others had. I realized that many menstruators in Kazakhstan who were still using self- made products were doing so because they could not afford the products in stores and that the alternative options that were being used were sometimes unsafe. These menstruators deserved to be heard. Nobody had ever questioned the comfort, accessibility, and safety of the alternatives they had to use. Until that year.
SOAS and I came together with the goal of collecting the data to represent the menstruators of Kazakhstan. We created a survey that was distributed electronically throughout the country to inquire about period poverty and collected 2,116 responses in five days. While most of the respondents were from big cities, where inaccessibility of menstrual products was less pervasive than in rural areas, the statistics were still quite revealing. We plan to make the results of our survey official and public so that other activists and organizations can get involved. Here are the big numbers:
● 25% of respondents did not have access to menstrual products during their menarche (their first menstrual cycle).
● 25% did not have anyone around who could explain to them what menstruation was and why it was happening.
● 50% felt uncomfortable while buying menstrual supplies.
● 78% hide their menstrual cycle and products from other people.
● 66% have had to or still use self-made supplies.
● 10% had to miss school due to the absence of supplies.
● One in five menstruators (20%) must choose every month between buying menstrual products or other essential and important life-comfort products.
This is only a small part of the 23-question survey we completed. It is still shocking to see the actual numbers of what I could only suggest before. However, it also inspires me to be a part of a bigger change. I hope that what I have managed to collect can become a base for bigger initiatives and upcoming changes.
Menstruation is not a choice. Menstrual products are not a luxury. Menstruation — is a biological process. Menstrual products are a basic need and a necessity. We should fight menstrual poverty and reach menstrual equity for e v e r y o n e.
Period.
With love, from Kazakhstan.
