#37 – Kate Bowen-Viner: Periods, stigma and school

5th December 2019

#37 – Kate Bowen-Viner: Periods, stigma and school

Periods, stigma and school

In this episode Kate Bowen-Viner, Senior Associate at the Centre for Education and Youth, shares a selection of research that she has been reading lately with Dr Sam Baars. This episode focuses on menstruation in school and period poverty. In light of research findings, Kate and Sam debate whether public discourse on period poverty and menstruation in school is too focused on school attendance. In this episode, Kate and Sam discuss academic research and grey literature from the UK and elsewhere in the world.

In this episode, Kate and Sam discuss:

  • Period poverty and girls’ access to menstruation products
  • Recent UK policy changes to tackle period poverty
  • Menstruation stigma
  • The relationship between menstruation, school attendance and wider gender inequalities
  • Girls’ experiences of menstruation in countries outside of the UK
  • The impact of providing free menstruation products on girls’ school attendance and wellbeing
  • The impact of menstruation education on girls’ school attendance and wellbeing
  • Intersectionality
  • The history of menstruation stigma
  • Menstruation and the media
  • Steps for tackling menstruation stigma in, and outside of, school

Resources/people features or mentioned

  • Jewitt, S. and Ryley, H. (2014) It’s a girl thing: Menstruation, school attendance, spatial mobility and wider gender inequalities in Kenya. Geoforum, 56, pp.137-147.
  • Hennegan, J. and Montgomery, P. (2016) Do menstrual hygiene management interventions improve education and psychosocial outcomes for women and girls in low and middle income countries? A systematic review. PloS one, 11(2), p.e0146985.
  • Plan International UK (2017) Break the Barriers: Girls’ Experiences of Menstruation in the UK (online) available at: https://plan-uk.org/girls-rights-in-the-uk/break-the-barriers-our-menstrual-manifesto [accessed: 01/11/2019]

 

Found the show useful?

Leave a review on iTunes

Music credits:

‘Oui’ by Simon Mathewson and ‘Jump for joy’ by Scott Holmes both from http://freemusicarchive.org

Want to contact us?

[email protected] / @sambaars