When Girls Are Not Taught: Why Menstrual Health Education Must Become a National Priority

Every girl deserves to understand her body

Across many African communities, from bustling cities to small townships like New Kru Town in Liberia — menstruation remains wrapped in silence, myths, and misinformation. It is spoken of in whispers, if at all, leaving generation after generation of girls to face one of the most formative phases of growing up without proper guidance, accurate information about the reproductive process of the female body, or dignity.

By Jamesetta Pinky Gibson

In many communities, this silence is not accidental, it is inherited. This practice, which has been passed through generations, treats menstruation as a private matter rather than a health issue. Cultural discomfort discussing the body across generations, and a lack of trained educators, combine to keep accurate information out of reach, even in homes where parents and teachers genuinely want to help.

I saw this reality firsthand in Fundaye, New Kru Town, Monrovia, where I conducted an empirical study for my undergraduate thesis that examined knowledge gaps and hygiene practices about menstruation among young women aged 18–25. Fundaye is a densely populated, low-income semi-urban community where limited access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities creates additional challenges for young women managing their menstrual health.

What stayed with me most was not simply the statistics I collected, but the conversations behind them.

One finding stood out more than any other.

Nearly nine out of every ten respondents (89.6%) reported that they had never received menstrual hygiene education in their community, while 91.7% believed that the education available in their community was inadequate.

These figures are more than numbers.

They point to a serious gap in the information young women need to make informed decisions about their health.

We cannot expect informed health decisions from people who have never been given informed health education.

My research also found that although 93.8% of respondents understood that poor menstrual hygiene could contribute to reproductive tract infections, only 31.3% correctly identified the recommended frequency for changing menstrual materials. This difference is important. Awareness of a health risk does not necessarily mean a person has the practical knowledge needed to prevent it. Where information had reached respondents at all, it came primarily from parents and guardians (28.1%) and schools (25%), while trained health workers accounted for less than one in five sources (19.8%), suggesting the health sector itself remains underused in providing education on this issue for locals.

When girls are not properly taught about menstruation, they may become susceptible to myths, misinformation, fear, embarrassment, or advice that may not always be accurate. The consequences can extend beyond menstrual hygiene to health-seeking behavior, confidence, and school participation. This is why menstrual health education should not be treated as an optional addition to healthcare. Instead, it should form part of preventive education about the reproductive process of the female body.

But my research also revealed something encouraging: young women are willing to learn.

Many of the women I engaged with were willing to ask questions, share their experiences, and better understand their bodies. Their curiosity reminded me that the challenge is not that young women do not care about their health. In many cases, they have simply not been given enough opportunities to access accurate, practical information.

Much of what we know about menstrual hygiene in this region comes from schools. Awareness campaigns, health talks, and research studies are overwhelmingly built around classrooms, reaching girls who are enrolled, attending, and easy to find in one place. But not every girl is in school. Some have dropped out. Some are working. Some never enrolled at all. My research in Fundaye deliberately looked beyond the classroom, into the community itself, and what it found is that the gap outside school walls may be even wider than the one inside them. If menstrual health education continues to live mainly in classrooms, we risk leaving behind exactly the girls who need it most.

And Liberia is not alone.

A multi-country analysis using household survey data across Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana, among six Sub-Saharan African countries studied — found that younger women consistently faced a higher unmet need for menstrual hygiene management than women aged 35 and older (Akoth et al., 2024). The pattern mirrors what I observed among the 18–25 age group in Fundaye: the youngest women, the ones with the most reproductive years ahead of them, are also the ones least served by existing menstrual health systems.

This means the conversation must move beyond telling girls to “practice good hygiene.” We must also ask whether they have been taught enough to do so.

The solution begins with education, but it cannot rest on one group alone.

Addressing this challenge requires collective action.

First, parents and guardians must be encouraged and supported to create safe, open conversations about menstruation at home, rather than leaving daughters to learn informally or not at all.

Second, schools and universities should provide age-appropriate menstrual and reproductive health education so that young people receive accurate information before misconceptions take root.

Third, healthcare workers should take a more active role than they currently do, incorporating menstrual health education into routine reproductive health services rather than leaving the subject to informal sources.

Fourth, faith leaders and community leaders can help break the inherited silence surrounding menstruation, replacing it with dignity, understanding, and respect.

Fifth, the media has a responsibility to take menstrual health conversations out of the shadows — using newspapers, radio, television, and digital platforms to replace myths with facts.

In addition, government institutions — including the Ministries of Health, Education, and Gender — together with county health teams, civil society organizations, and development partners, all have a role to play in ensuring that every girl, regardless of where she lives, has access to accurate menstrual health education.

This is not simply a women’s issue.

It is a public health issue.

It is an education issue.

It is a human dignity issue.

Most importantly, it is a shared responsibility.

This is why this agenda also connects directly to the Sustainable Development Goals. Improving menstrual health education contributes to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, by supporting prevention over treatment. It advances SDG 4: Quality Education, because girls need accurate health information to participate fully in school. And it supports SDG 5: Gender Equality, because menstrual stigma and unequal access to information limit young women’s opportunities.

For Liberia, this is therefore more than a conversation about menstruation. It is a conversation about health, education, and dignity.

Research should never end when a thesis is defended or remain confined to library shelves. Its greatest value is realized when evidence informs conversations, influences policy, strengthens programs, and improves lives.

My research in Fundaye provides a localized picture of a challenge that deserves wider attention. It is not the final word, but it is a call to listen, learn, and act.

As a young researcher and advocate, I believe that collaboration is our greatest opportunity. By bringing together educators, health professionals, policymakers, community leaders, development partners, civil society organizations, researchers, and young people themselves, we can create practical, community-driven solutions that ensure every girl has the knowledge she needs to manage her menstrual health with confidence and dignity.

The evidence is before us.

Now is the time to act.

Because when we educate girls, we do more than improve menstrual health — we empower healthier families, stronger communities, and a more informed nation.

Research should inspire action, influence policy, and improve lives.

Note on sources

Statistics attributed to “my research” are drawn from the author’s undergraduate thesis, Menstrual Hygiene Practices and Their Association with Reproductive Tract Infections Among Young Women Aged 18–25 Years in Fundaye, New Kru Town, Liberia (Gibson, 2026, African Methodist Episcopal University). The regional comparison is drawn from: Akoth, C., Wambiya, E. O., Kibe, P. M., Mbuthia, G. W., Ng’ang’a, L., Otieno, P., & Oguta, J. O. (2024). Prevalence and factors associated with unmet need for menstrual hygiene management in six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: A multilevel analysis. BMC Women’s Health, 24(1), 473.