Flow with Dignity : Water for Menstrual Health
- projectmaji
- May 28
- 4 min read
An estimated 1.8 billion people (girls, women, transgender men, and non-binary individuals) bleed every month. Menstruation brings with it a whole host of challenges: pain, discomfort, and fatigue to name a few. For many, those are the difficulties we must endure. But for those without access to clean water, such symptoms are the tip of the iceberg. In this blog post, we break down the essential role that clean water plays in menstrual health management (MHM) and ending the societal stigma around periods.
To put it plainly, clean water is necessary for good health. Here at Project Maji, we are acutely aware of the negative health impacts of dirty water. One of our big driving forces as an organisation lies in our understanding that by increasing sustainable access to clean water, we can improve the overall health of a population. But today, on 28 May 2025, there is one crucial link between clean water and health that we would like to highlight. Happy Menstrual Hygiene Day!
Women & Water
From the very first community engagement session and kiosk installation, Project Maji was conscious of how our work could positively affect women. From alleviating their water collection burden, to unlocking greater access to job opportunities and increasing education rates, facilitating access to clean water has immense and tangible externalities for women and girls. You can find out more about the links between women and water here.
At the intersection of women’s empowerment and the right to health is menstrual hygiene management. Unfortunately, due to surrounding taboos, menstrual health has not often been the focus of water access projects, despite the fact that an estimated 500 million individuals lack access to clean water and adequate facilities to practice MHM. In honour of Menstrual Hygiene Day, Project Maji wants to do our part by spotlighting how our mission of increasing access to clean water improves menstrual health.
Why is clean water important in the pursuit of menstrual health?
Proper hygiene and the Prevention of infections
It’s important to know that there is nothing ‘dirty’ or unnatural about menstrual blood. It is a normal, natural, and healthy part of life for anyone born with the female reproductive system. For menstruation to remain healthy, it is imperative that the body is cared for and treated with dignity.
Starting with the obvious, clean water is an indispensable element of good hygiene. Coming into contact with contaminated water can lead to a myriad of skin conditions and infections, including bilharzia. Having access to clean water allows menstruating people to cleanse their bodies without fear of contamination. While this is always important, it is of heightened significance during a period, given that blood offers the opportunity for bacteria to thrive and should therefore be cleaned away.
Moreover, being able to cleanse your hands with clean water will ensure that you don’t transmit unwanted germs to other parts of your body while you clean yourself.
Hydration
During menstruation, it is recommended to increase your daily intake of water. Doing so is vital as it will help to replenish your bodily fluids from the blood loss, reduce headaches, and mitigate dizziness. Additionally, staying hydrated with water can play a role in regulating abdominal bloating. These symptoms can only be adequately confronted with clean and safe drinking water, as anything else is likely to do more harm than good.
Managing menstrual discomfort
Staying hydrated may not directly alleviate pain, but it helps reduce the bloating that worsens cramps. Moreover, research shows that water intake could play a role in the severity of pelvic pain among those who suffer from painful periods, also known as primary dysmenorrhea.
Why does talking about menstrual health matter?
Menstruation remains a heavily stigmatised topic all over the world. A lethal combination of misogyny and misinformation has attached shame onto a very natural and normal biological experience. It's important to shatter the long-held myths that periods make a person ‘impure’ or ‘dirty’ . These archaic attitudes have tangibly horrific consequences, particularly on young girls. In the most egregious of cases, women and girls are banished from their homes and forced to live in isolation to carry out their menstruation, owing to the unfounded belief that their bleeding brings bad luck. Stigma prevents conversation and education, which in turn breeds disinformation, like the false narrative that one cannot become pregnant while on their period. Particularly pertinent to Project Maji’s mission, a study conducted in Egypt reported that some girls did not wash themselves while on their period, due to a social taboo dictating they are not to come into contact with water during menstruation. As we have already discussed, this will open the doors for other health concerns.
Furthermore, misconceptions and myths often lead to the exclusion of women and girls from public spaces. For example, a study conducted by UNESCO discovered that 1 in 10 girls in sub-Saharan Africa miss school while on their period. Taboo certainly plays a role in such a phenomenon, but the lack of access to safe facilities and an inability to afford or find sanitary products contribute. UNESCO encourages a holistic approach to MHM including puberty education, healthy physical and social settings, and linkages to health services. Abolishing the stigma is the first step to empowering women and girls in this arena. Improving access to menstrual health not only realises a basic human right, but also removes any connotations of menstruation being limiting.
What can we do?
Project Maji acknowledges that we are one piece of the puzzle in improving global MHM. Our mandate may not be enough to single-handedly wipe out period poverty, but we know that by improving access to clean water we are doing our part to facilitate better and safer menstrual hygiene practices. We are proud of the gender dimensions to our work, and we invite you to join us in our life-changing mission.
