Watch the last session, and remember to watch the next one on Tuesday (Oct 8)

Written by Dhwani Kharel (IMHER Student Research Assistant)
Edited by Andrew Culver (IMHER Student Research Assistant)

“The Period Posse” based at Columbia University and the Mailman School of Public Health has started running a monthly series of webinars, focusing on research, advocacy, and policy issues pertaining to global menstrual hygiene.

Fortunately, it is not too late to benefit from the inaugural session, even if you happened to miss the live version. A recording of the session held on September 11, 2019 – “New Research: Updates from Menstrual Trials in Kenya, Uganda & The Gambia” – is now available here.

The First Session: A focus on research findings

The speakers participating in the first Period Posse webinar were Penny Phillips-Howard, Helen Weiss, and Belen Torondel, all from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

While addressing some of the key takeaways from their research, the scholars provided many strategies for researchers and others involved in menstrual hygiene advocacy. They addressed issues such as whether access to menstrual health products improves school attendance, various tradeoffs involved with different types of menstrual products, and how to design experiments in a global MHM context.  

In the process, some commonly shared assumptions within the field were affirmed by the participants (such as the importance of including men and boys in MHM), while some doubt was cast on other common practices (for example, whether school attendance should be a primary outcome of interest in MH work, and how it can be a problematic measure.)

The Next Session: A focus on policy

The Period Posse’s next webinar is on the topic of “Ending the Tampon Tax:  Mobilizing Policy Change in the US & the UK” and will air on October 8 at 8:00 am EST (go here for the link to sign up.)

Finding future webinar listings

Future topics to be covered in the coming months include female-friendly toilets, and a discussion of rights, dignity, and individual agency in menstrual hygiene management.

Check their listings of future talks at “The Period Posse” website, or check the events calendar available on IMHER.