Human rights and menstruation

Your menstruation should not hold you back! There are a number of rights that are there to protect and support you if you have problems related your menstruation.

Image: Two young women with a serious expression on their faces

Menstruation should not be an obstacle in your life or prevent you from living the life you want to. Therefore, it's good to know about your rights. That makes it easier to speak up if your rights are not respected, and if you are being treated poorly or limited by your menstruation.

The UN charter on human rights and your menstruation

There are several right's that can be connected to menstruation. One of the most important is the right to not be discriminated against or treated unfair. There is a convention that is particularly written to eliminate the discrimination of women; The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. All who menstruate are not women, but it's an experience closely connected to women. Therefore, this convention is important. Your human rights should not be limited by your gender. A gender that in many cases means that you menstruate.

"Health is a condition of 100% well-being physically, psychologically and socially, it's not only the absence of disease."

Related to you and your menstruations, this means that the government has to work to ensure that you are not being treated unfairly, for example by shaming, being seen as unclean or being teased because of your menstruation. Your right to education and work should not be affected. Neither should your health.

All obstacles that the menstruation can create, the state has an obligation to try to remove - to increase equality and further all citizens' human rights. Make yourself heard, and ask others for help!