Kim is a warm and charismatic leader with a strong sense of community and huge ambitions to improve women’s lives in South Africa. You can follow Kim on Twitter @kimantheasmith

Many women in South Africa do not have enough money to buy sanitary pads or tampons, and there are strong social taboos surrounding menstruation.  A significant proportion of young girls lose a week of school per month during their period.  Kim’s solution is to develop a low cost menstrual cup which can be reused for up to 5 years.

With the help of an UnLtd South Africa award, Kim will set out to educate and empower women to change the negative stigmas against and perceptions of menstruation and create safe and supportive spaces for young females to be comfortable with speaking and learning about menstruation. Kim aims to encourage young females to take control of their health from an early age and to transform their experience of menstruation.

Facts about the issue

·      Even when pads are locally available, many girls simply can’t afford them. UPI reports that in South Africa, a pack of 10 might cost $2. In many areas, that is more than a day’s wages. Some women resort to prostitution to afford their needed products. Others have a child to stop their period for 9 months.

·      Girls who don’t have access to pads during their period miss school due to embarrassment, fear of being teased and cultural taboos. Young females, particularly between the ages of 12 and 16, stay out of school during their menstruation period because of the lack of sanitary ware and some drop out completely. The average rural or poor South African girl misses 50 days of school per year due to her cycle.

·      There are 15 million menstruating women in South Africa, of those only 8 million have access to sanitary product. Some girls will use newspaper, old rags, or mud instead, methods that pose health risks hardly work.

·      In spite of the fact that a woman will have to manage approximately 2000 days of menstruation in an average lifetime, females often find It uncomfortable to talk about it. For many young women, menstruation can be a traumatic experience because of the lack of knowledge of why it occurs and how to manage it.

You can find out more about the cause at http://www.iamchangingtheworld.org.za/give-a-woman-dignity/