A 14-year-old girl in Kenya took her own life last week after a teacher allegedly embarrassed her for getting her period in class.
The young woman’s death has prompted protests from female parliamentarians and reignited a national conversation about “period shaming” and access to menstrual products, according to reports from The Guardian.
The girl’s mother says her daughter was found dead last Friday after she got her period during class and it ended up staining her clothes. That’s when the teacher allegedly called her “dirty” and expelled her from the classroom. Her mother told local media it was her daughter’s first period, so she did not have a sanitary pad.
On Wednesday, female MPs “laid siege” to the education ministry to protest about the girl’s death and discuss the program.
More than 200 parents also protested outside of the school in Kabiangek this week, both condemning the teacher’s handling of the incident and the alleged lack of action by authorities. The regional police chief said the death was under investigation. The school has been temporarily closed after police used tear gas to disperse the protesters and arrested at least five people for pulling down the school’s gate, according to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.
Access to menstrual products is a major problem across sub-Saharan Africa, where an inability to afford sanitary products prompts many girls to avoid school during their periods.
The education ministry and Teachers Service Commission of Kenya are conducting their own investigation into the girl’s death, with a report scheduled for publication in the coming weeks.
