It is important for every home to have toilet facilities. Toilets help to maintain a clean environment and good health, especially for children and women.
Toilets at home and schools help children, especially girls, to keep themselves clean during their menstrual period.
Many girls are not able to maintain personal hygiene due to the lack of toilet facilities in their homes or schools.
In schools where there are no separate toilets for boys and girls, the girls do not have a place to safely and privately change and dispose of pads.
Angela Obeng said she was more comfortable at home during her period even though there were toilets in her school.
“ In school, we share washrooms with the boys and this makes me feel very uncomfortable.
Whenever you are in the washroom, you hear a knock on the door so you have to hurry up to allow someone else to use the place”, she said.
Taboos, myths and shame surrounding menstruation can lead to teasing, shaming, exclusion from daily activities and have negative effects on girls.
These girls who sometimes feel ashamed or are anxious that they may soil themselves prefer not to go to school at all.
This by far reduces the attendance rate of young girls in schools on a daily basis.
Source: The Graphic