Ending Period Poverty in Ghana: Our Fight for Dignified Periods for Menstruating Women and Girls

Period Poverty

Period poverty describes the struggle menstruating women and girls face in accessing period management products such as pads, tampons, pain management medication, and underwear. This is mainly due to financial constraints and/or unavailability of period products. Having dignified periods is a fundamental human right. Periods are biological to menstruating people, the lack of access to products and facilities needed allow help us manage our period is thus a human rights violation.

Period Poverty in Ghana

A 2018 Unicef Ghana factsheet indicates that one in five girls did not participate in school or social activities during her last menstruation. Period poverty negatively impacts the health, education and well-being of menstruators.

In Ghana, the Ghana Revenue Authority has a 20% imports tax and 12.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) slapped on period products. This makes products like menstrual pads too expensive for menstruators in low-income communities especially. Vulnerable women and girls have resorted to various life-threatening means to manage their periods, evidently in some cases resulting in teenage pregnancies and reproductive health complications. With families in low-income communities earning a monthly wage as low $145, menstrual pads have become almost impossible to purchase.

In 2020, during the manifesto launch of the ruling National Patriotic Party on August 22nd, our current vice president Dr Mahamudu mentioned that should their ruling mandate be extended, the government would remove the 20% import duty on period products to “improve health conditions, particularly for girls” It is evident that government is aware of the issues, especially the burden this tax puts on women, and was disingenuous capitalising on it for votes with no intention of following through. Women’s health and wellbeing should not be exploited to score political points.  

Menstruation and its related issues are considered taboo topics in Ghana. Ideally, parents and guardians should have conversations with their children about periods at least prior to puberty but this is not done mainly because of the stigma around periods, and also because parents themselves do to have ample knowledge about the workings of the female reproductive system, especially menstruation. This has created a huge knowledge gap amongst menstruators and has further fuelled the many harmful myths and misconceptions around periods. The heavy taxation on period products further perpetuates this silent culture around periods.

The broader socio-economic impact of period poverty cannot be ignored. Girls missing out on school means forfeiting their right to education which would otherwise put them in a better position to equally access opportunities and effectively participate in the workforce. Women’s reproductive health being unstable means their inability to fully and effectively participate in the economy for their wellbeing and that of their families. These further perpetuates the already entrenched gender inequalities that leaves women vulnerable. It is an injustice.

The Don’t Tax my Period March

Our “Don’t Tax my Period” placard march and picketing at parliament was part of a collective effort to persuade government to remove the taxation on period products. Ours wasn’t the first. There has been both individual and collective efforts in the past, with some civil society organizations having sent petitions to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Parliamentary Select Committees on Gender and Finance, and made efforts to engage with relevant members of parliament. All these seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. It was evident that policy makers were employing selective deafness to the plight of menstruating women and girls in Ghana. This necessitated our Don’t Tax my Period March held on the 22nd of June 2023.

The March was organised together with the women’s wing of the Socialist Movement of Ghana and the Obaasima foundation. A total of 250 activists and members of organising organisations joined the march which commenced at the Ridge Roundabout in Accra and ended at the Parliament of Ghana.

The Hon. Dzifa Gomashie, Member of Parliament for Ketu South and Hon. Rita Naa Adoley Sowah, Member of Parliament for La Dade Kotopon constituency joined us at the forecourt of parliament as we sang and chanted for the removal of period taxes.

The initial agreement between the orgainsing team and parliament was that the leaders of the march present our petition to representatives from the gender and finance committees. Upon arrival however, we were informed that the Speaker of Parliament, the Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin who was chairing parliamentary proceedings wanted to meet with us himself. He indeed put sitting on hold and met with us. In our discussions with him, he mentioned that he had recently become aware of the period tax which he noted had been through parliament prior and had not received approval, to the best of his knowledge. He reiterated our concerns and assured us that he had already started discussions with the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection and was going to take steps to ensure that the taxes are removed by the next budget reading, which is scheduled for November 2023. The speaker addressed the house after he returned, he described the taxation as unconscionable and a cardinal sin

Aftermath of the march

The march was reported by several local media, including the big names like TV3 and GHOne. The BBC also covered the march, giving it an international audience. This triggered both local and national conversations around period poverty in Ghana and the need to remove the period taxes.

Another outcome of the march was a statement by the Association of Ghana Industries urging government to not remove import taxes on pads as it will lead to the influx of substandard products and more importantly collapse the already struggling local manufacturing industry. Civil Society Organisation working in menstrual hygiene responded to this statement. This excerpt from a statement by Savana Signature best captures our own response; “It is important to note that Ghana operates in a free trade market and should not appear to be hindering the import sector, as the AGI suggests. It is also crucial to recognise the role of competition and consumer choice in a thriving economy like Ghana. Besides, trusting the production of sanitary pads solely to the local manufacturing sector, which the AGI acknowledges is already struggling, could be detrimental to the availability and affordability of these essential products”

Not only does AGI’s statement risk consumer welfare where product quality is concerned, it also suggests that women and girls continue to suffer whilst we wait on the local industry to grow. Menstruation is a monthly surety; we cannot put the health and general wellbeing of almost half the population at risk for the benefit of an industry. We encourage the AGI to rather focus their efforts on getting government to reduce taxation on raw material for local production and implement other strategies that ensures industry sustainability that does not come at the expense of the wellbeing of menstruating women and girls.

Onwards

As an organisation solely committed to women’s rights and wellbeing, our resolve is to keep fighting for as long as it takes for government to remove the unjust taxes placed on menstrual cups. Until the budget reading and beyond, we will keep organising, marching, lobbying and employing social and traditional media to advocate. We will keep screaming if need be. We are enraged by the period tax, and our rage is justified.

Ghana committed to fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is however impossible to achieve SDG goals 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 without ending period poverty. We urge government to fulfil its mandate of removing barriers that hinders the progress of women and girls and providing equitable and dignified livelihoods for all.