Post by max23 on Sept 1, 2017 19:47:59 GMT -5
According to this article on "The Guardian" newspaper's Australian website, a Hong Kong woman, Miki So, is conducting "menstruation information sessions" for other HK women.
"So is acutely aware of the stigma that exists around menstruation – both through the women she encounters and her own experiences.
For women in Hong Kong who have periods, the options are slim. Most pharmacies, department stores and supermarkets offer a great wall of sanitary pads, while tampons and other options are typically unavailable or less visible.
Although tampons are available online, they remain uncommon. Also barely visible is any discussion around menstruation. But growing numbers of young women are attempting to change this.
With women in Hong Kong typically working long hours (Hong Kong has the longest working week of any country in the world), the fear of toxic shock syndrome can be a deterrent from using tampons, So says. This has resulted in women seeking alternative sanitary products, such as the menstrual cup.
Currently, sex education is not mandatory in schools in Hong Kong. When [Joyce Fung, one of the founders of a Facebook page called MenstruAction] was at school, as a form of sex education, she and her classmates received a visit from a sanitary pad company.
'The discussion about menstruation was by the menstro pad company. They went to our schools and then they gave out menstro pads. The boys and girls were separated. Seventeen or eighteen – that was my first time knowing tampons,' Fung said."
Given that there is a stigma surrounding menstruation and that the vast majority of HK women currently use pads, an external form of menstrual protection, introducing them to the possibility of using a "hands on" product - the menstrual cup - seems fairly ambitious.
"So is acutely aware of the stigma that exists around menstruation – both through the women she encounters and her own experiences.
For women in Hong Kong who have periods, the options are slim. Most pharmacies, department stores and supermarkets offer a great wall of sanitary pads, while tampons and other options are typically unavailable or less visible.
Although tampons are available online, they remain uncommon. Also barely visible is any discussion around menstruation. But growing numbers of young women are attempting to change this.
With women in Hong Kong typically working long hours (Hong Kong has the longest working week of any country in the world), the fear of toxic shock syndrome can be a deterrent from using tampons, So says. This has resulted in women seeking alternative sanitary products, such as the menstrual cup.
Currently, sex education is not mandatory in schools in Hong Kong. When [Joyce Fung, one of the founders of a Facebook page called MenstruAction] was at school, as a form of sex education, she and her classmates received a visit from a sanitary pad company.
'The discussion about menstruation was by the menstro pad company. They went to our schools and then they gave out menstro pads. The boys and girls were separated. Seventeen or eighteen – that was my first time knowing tampons,' Fung said."
Given that there is a stigma surrounding menstruation and that the vast majority of HK women currently use pads, an external form of menstrual protection, introducing them to the possibility of using a "hands on" product - the menstrual cup - seems fairly ambitious.
