By MN Reporter

Schoolgirls in Migori are offering sex to get money for sanitary pads, leader from the county have said.

Migori county Woman representative Dr. Pamela Odhiambo and Awendo sub-county DCC Mrs Nereah Kotonya said it is saddening to learn that some girls exchange sex for money to buy sanitary pads so that they could retain their dignities at home during Covid-19 pandemic.

They said many girls had suffered ridicule for failure to buy pads forcing them to offer themselves for sex in exchange for sanitary towels thus putting them at risk of contracting HIV/Aids and early pregnancies
Kotonya encouraged the girls to work hard adding that girls facing menstrual periods, bad attitude and early pregnancies can excel unlike early marriages and pregnancies.

The Woman Rep said girls in the county are forced to have in sex in exchange for sanitary products due to the prevalence of period poverty and the shame, stigma and public health misinformation which surrounds menstruation.

Pamela was speaking in both Awendo and Rongo subcounties when launching the distribution of sanitary pads to all primary schools in Migori County.

She noted that the deeply-entrenched taboo which surrounds periods in Kenya results in a dearth of information available for girls and women.

One of the beneficiaries and a pupil at Anindo primary Melvine Adhiambo Ochieng thanked the government for saving them from abuses.

She said life outside school has not been easy since the government used to subsidize them with pads which until now is a mystery.