Abstract

Reports of school and work absences due to unmet menstrual needs have prompted increased attention to menstruation in policy and practice. However, there appear to be few quantitative studies reported in published literature capturing the prevalence of this hypothesised absenteeism. This study undertook secondary analysis of nationally representative Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) data from Burkina Faso and Nigeria, and city-representative data from Niamey, Niger to determine the extent of women’s and girls’ self-reported absence from school and work due to menstruation. Among women and adolescent girls aged 15–49 years who had worked outside the household in the past month in Burkina Faso (n = 998), Niger (n = 212) and Nigeria (n = 3638), 19%, 11% and 17%, respectively, reported missing work due to menstruation. Among those aged 15–24 years who attended school in the past year in Burkina Faso (n = 461), Niger (n = 213) and Nigeria (n = 1574), 17%, 15% and 23% reported missing school in the past year due to menstruation. Findings support the assertion that menstruation is a source of absenteeism in West Africa and indicate that greater attention from research, practice, and policy is needed. In presenting this data we also reflect critically on the performance of questions regarding menstrual-related absenteeism in national monitoring surveys. Future monitoring efforts should consider the interpretability of similar survey data when many respondents did not attend any school or work and were ineligible to answer questions regarding absenteeism. Further, without additional research identifying the reasons for absenteeism, findings from similar survey questions may be difficult to interpret with relevance for policy decision making.

摘要

由于月经需求未得到满足而导致上学和工作缺勤的报告促使人们在政策和实践中越来越关注月经。然而，在已发表的文献中似乎很少有定量研究报告捕捉到这种假设缺勤的普遍性。本研究对来自布基纳法索和尼日利亚的 2020 年全国代表性绩效监测和问责 (PMA2020) 数据以及来自尼日尔尼亚美的城市代表数据进行了二次分析，以确定妇女和女童自我报告的缺勤程度来月经。在过去一个月在布基纳法索 ( n  = 998)、尼日尔 ( n  = 212) 和尼日利亚 ( n = 3638)，分别有 19%、11% 和 17% 报告因月经而错过工作。在过去一年在布基纳法索 ( n  = 461)、尼日尔 ( n  = 213) 和尼日利亚 ( n = 1574)，17%、15% 和 23% 的人报告在过去一年中因月经而缺课。调查结果支持月经是西非旷工的一个来源的断言，并表明需要更多的研究、实践和政策关注。在提供这些数据时，我们还批判性地反映了国家监测调查中与月经相关的缺勤问题的表现。当许多受访者没有上过学或工作并且没有资格回答有关旷工的问题时，未来的监测工作应该考虑类似调查数据的可解释性。此外，如果没有额外的研究来确定旷工的原因，类似调查问题的结果可能难以解释为与政策决策相关。