“My daughter wore pads only during the day and used rags at night”: Sanitary pad accessibility and educational outcomes for girls in Ghana

Motivation The onset of menstruation is an important physiological change that occurs in girls during adolescence. Ghana is making steady progress in improving girls' education by breaking down barriers, but a major issue to be addressed is lack of access to menstrual hygiene products. The situation is made worse by the imposition of a luxury tax on sanitary products. As part of a bursary programme offered by Ghana Education Service/UNICEF, 1,000 girls from northern Ghana regions received sanitary pad distribution support, aimed at keeping them in school until transition to senior high school (Grades 10, 11, and 12). Purpose The study examines the usefulness of sanitary pad distribution support in improving girls' education. The research questions are: what is the unmet need for sanitary pads among vulnerable adolescent girls in rural Ghana, what are the related coping mechanisms, and how useful is the distribution of sanitary pads for girls' education? Approach and methods The study adopted a phenomenological approach involving beneficiaries, their parents and District Girls' Education Officers. Data collection techniques were focus group discussions for beneficiaries, in‐depth interviews for parents, and key informant interviews for officers. Findings The high cost of pads presents significant barriers for many schoolgirls from low‐income families. A packet of eight to 12 pads costs, on average, GHS 25, which exceeds the daily minimum wage in Ghana of GHS 14.88. Due to this, girls turn to resource rationing strategies that can have a significant adverse effect on their education. Policy implications The removal of tax on local pads, while commendable, is undermined by the maintaining of taxes on the necessary imported raw materials. In Kenya, the removal of taxes was complemented by the introduction of subsidies and the free distribution of pads in schools. Alongside tax removal, Ghana could provide subsidies to local producers and introduce social distribution of sanitary pads in basic schools to create a ready market for local producers, intensify public education on menstrual hygiene to eradicate stigma while simultaneously supporting girls' education.