Kantarawaddy Times
As displacement drags on, it is well known that everyone who has been forced to flee their homes and live in IDP camps faces hardships of their own. However, adult women face additional and more severe challenges due to bodily needs as well as health and security conditions.
For adult women, menstrual periods require essential menstrual products. In early January 2026, a member of an IDP camp committee in western Demoso Township said that menstrual products and personal hygiene items were in short supply at one IDP camp in the area.
“When we can’t afford to buy sanitary pads, we have to manage with pieces of cloth,” a schoolgirl from western Demoso explained, describing how she uses rags during her period.
Because menstrual products are unavailable, many women are experiencing impacts on their health, education, and social lives.
Problems Caused by the Lack of Menstrual Products
Women’s menstrual products include sanitary pads, tampons, disposable pads, menstrual cups, and reusable cloths. In Karenni IDP communities, sanitary pads are the most commonly used.
These items are basic necessities for adult women. However, due to low income, high prices, and difficulties in accessing supplies in IDP camps, some women are unable to use them.
“It’s really hard to find and buy these items. There aren’t many supplies available, and there are frequent shortages,” said Mu Se, Executive Director of a rural land organization working on IDP issues in Karenni State.
Furthermore, she added that water scarcity is also another challenge for women during their menstruation.
“For women, it’s not just the difficulty of getting sanitary pads. If there are none, maintaining personal hygiene becomes very hard. Even if they use cloth instead, washing it is difficult in places where water is scarce,” she said.
Some women are forced to use old clothes or unhygienic materials as substitutes. This poses serious risks to women’s health and remains an invisible problem, as it is not openly discussed within communities.
Related Health Problems
“For us women, in a household with two or three women, it costs a lot. When we can’t afford it, we have to reduce usage, and that seriously affects our health,” said a young woman from western Demoso.
When women cannot afford menstrual products, they often use a single sanitary pad for an entire day. Medically, it is generally recommended that a sanitary pad should be changed every four to six hours during menstruation. Maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation is also important.
The inability to use proper menstrual products can lead to various health problems. According to information published by the NUG Ministry of Health’s (NUG-MOH) telehealth service, using unhygienic menstrual products can cause reproductive tract infections and urinary tract infections, and may later result in infertility or complications during childbirth.
Impact on Education and Social Life
Women may also experience psychological stress due to shame and anxiety related to menstruation. Loss of self-confidence and avoidance of social interactions negatively affect women’s quality of life.
“When I go to school, it’s very uncomfortable during class. When using sanitary pads like this, I can only use one per day,” said a schoolgirl from western Demoso.
School-aged girls often cannot attend school on the days they have their periods if they lack menstrual products. This leads to setbacks in education and the loss of future opportunities. As a result, women are losing educational and social opportunities because of this natural biological process.
Menstruation is not something shameful; it is a natural and healthy biological process. Therefore, there is a need to create a culture where menstruation can be discussed openly. Displaced women hope that governments and civil society organizations will recognize menstrual products as basic health necessities and provide them free of charge or at affordable prices.
