“Men’s attitudes” towards menstruation problems and methods

Teresa V. Saliku, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Jean-Christophe Fotso, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Nancy Luke, Brown University

The society in Kenya is largely patriarchal with men wielding great influence especially at the household level in decision making, priority setting and in the distribution of resources. This is rightly so given that most men are the breadwinners in their households and therefore have a lot of say in the matters at the home. Research on reproductive health has shown that a lot of strategies or approaches into the health of women have a lot of bearing on the role men play in support of such interventions. However there is paucity of research on men’s attitude, perception or understanding of some issues in reproductive health especially which directly involves women. This paper examines the attitudes and reactions of men towards menstruating women during the menstrual cup trial period and the perceptions on the cup which tended to stigmatize participants. It also appraises men’s knowledge on menstruation and reproductive health awareness issues in general.