Created in 2015, the Elementary Rules association fights against menstrual poverty and the taboo of periods. Its objective: to understand what young women and girls experience in their daily lives. This is how she carried out a study on rules at school with the Opinionway research institute. To do this, she interviewed 1,000 young girls between 11 and 18 years old. The results revealed a large number of areas for improvement regarding the rules. Particularly in terms of the lack of communication on this subject at school and the taboos and inequalities which persist on this natural phenomenon.
Rules: a taboo subject victim of misinformation in the school environment
In his study, the The Elementary Rules association points out the lack of awareness and information about the rules at school. Indeed, “only 15% of students benefit from the 3 annual sessions of education on emotional and sexual life provided for by law”. A clearly insufficient figure, which encourages mockery and prejudices about the rules. If 72% of young girls get their period before the age of 13, the first SVT lessons on sex and menstrual education only arrive in 4th grade. A very late learning on this yet so important subject. This is why the association advocates menstrual education from primary school onwards for all students. Indeed, to remove taboos and inequalities around periods, it seems essential to raise awareness earlier in children’s education.
If the lack of information about periods is felt at school, menstrual insecurity is also present! In fact, only 35% of girls have access to free protection in their establishment. A major area of improvement for schools. To make matters worse, toilets are very often unsuitable for young mature girls. Lack of a trash can, lack of toilet paper or soap, all of these elements make the rules at school difficult for young girls.
Periods: a stressor for young girls
For 8 out of 10 girls, having their period at school is a stressor. An anxiety which results in absenteeism. In fact, 1 in 3 girls admit to having missed school because of their period.
What are the main reasons for this absence from school during menstruation?
- 85% of them had significant pain;
- 29% had a sports or swimming lesson;
- 7% were afraid that it would be seen (fear of a stain, fear of the protection being noticed)
- 4% had difficulty managing their periods at school (no suitable toilets)
- 3% were afraid of not having time to change their protection.
In addition, 1 in 4 girls consider that this absenteeism due to periods has slowed down their academic progress.
“The physical, psychological and social impact of periods is very real. Breaking the taboo of periods and implementing menstrual education modules is the first step towards freeing speech, better self-knowledge, and a reduction in inequalities.” concludes Elementary Rules.
The age of first menstruation is continuously decreasing
At around 13 years old, half of adolescent girls have already had their period, according to INED. And it only continued to decrease: probably close to 16 years around 1750, it fell to almost 15 years around 1850 then 13 years in 1950. In 1994 (last epidemiological survey available), the first periods arrived, on average, at the age of 12.6 years. “In all rich countries, girls are reaching puberty earlier than in the past. This earlier development is attributed in particular to the improvement of diet”, underlines INED.
Source :
Elementary rules, At school, it is a duty to change the rules, October 11, 2023
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