NDC condemns purported use of clay as sanitary pads by northern girls
Bolgatanga, The Women’s wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Upper East Region, has condemned the alleged use of clay by some Northern girls as sanitary pads.
A viral video purported to be an interview with one Ms Etonam Sey, the Founder of Inspire Today Foundation on some television networks in Ghana, including Ghana Television (GTV), alleged some Northern girls used clay as sanitary pads.
The NDC in a statement said ‘We are stating unequivocally that it’s a lie, and not even in the ancient days did girls of northern Ghana ever use clay as substitute for sanitary pads.
‘If we may ask, in what form is this clay, and how will that clay absorb their flow? How will that clay be placed in underwear? How thick or thin is that clay? Specifically, which part of northern Ghana, region and community?’
A statement signed by Madam Fawzia Abagnabama Yakubu, the Regional Women’s Organizer of the NDC and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, requested to know girls who used the clay, as it posed ‘Serious health concerns.
‘As much as the girls of the school you visited appreciate your kind gestures and efforts to aid and improve their menstrual hygiene, we would not take such wicked falsehood in the name of advocacy to help others,’ the statement said.
The statement indicated that ‘Such wicked falsehood is an affront to the dignity of Northern girls, hence, we demand proof of such claims or an unqualified apology via the same platforms and means within seven days, as she used in peddling such falsehood.’
Madam Yakubu in the statement also indicated that ‘Anything short of the aforementioned demands, we shall advise ourselves accordingly.’
The statement noted that as the world prepared to observe World Menstrual Day, ‘We will want to use this opportunity to call on government to either reconsider the current tax rate on sanitary pads or use the tax exemption law to exempt taxes on sanitary pads to make them affordable.
‘The Government should also consider adding monthly quota sanitary pads to our Free Senior High School girls, to help them peacefully go through the natural cycle without hindrance to class attendance,’ the statement said.
They also appealed to producers and importers of sanitary pads to produce affordable but quality sanitary pads, to specifically target students and pupils to enable them to have easy access to affordable pads.
Source: Ghana News Agency