To give some background, about 1 billion people in the world today have disabilities and 80% of those people live in lower income countries. One common misconception about people with disabilities is that they don’t have the same reproductive systems as non-disabled people so they may not menstruate and cannot have children which we know is not true. In fact, we can only imagine how difficult it must be to have a disability and go through the menstruation process, whether the person is by themselves or must rely on a caregiver. 

We can imagine those who have a visual disability must have challenges with seeing the blood on their clothes and bedsheets. And for this reason, while they might prefer to use disposable menstrual material rather than reusable, they might not always be able to afford it. 

Additionally, if one has a physical disability but has a lack of access to basic water and sanitation as is seen in many developing countries, it can be hard to even go use the bathroom. For instance, if the bathroom is outside but no road has been paved on the terrain to get there, it can be difficult for a disabled person who has trouble walking to get to the bathroom. 

 Not to mention, those with intellectual disabilities may have difficulty in expressing their emotions in an easily understood way during their menstrual cycles. They may show behaviors such as withdrawal, feeling frightened, and hyperactivity, which can be very stressful for caregivers. 

Those with self-care limitations may also not be able to manage their menstruation by themselves and have to rely on their caregivers to even wear the menstrual products, which can be a problem if the caregiver is not around. 

Hence it’s important to also acknowledge how the caregiver (if they have one) is affected. The caregiver may also need support and guidance on how to manage someone else’s menstruation. It’s important to spread awareness about this topic of menstruation to all persons who are affected by it including able bodied people, disabled people and their caregivers. No one should be excluded when talking about this topic and in fact more care should be given to those who need it.