Nollywood actress Victoria Nwogu has called on the National Assembly to pass a bill subsidising sanitary pads for women and girls in Nigeria saying a lot of them in the lower class use tissue papers because they cannot afford pads.
Despite making an impact through her NGO, Victoria Nwogu Outreach, the actress further made a case for her gender saying, “ I speak from the angle of a young Nigerian girl, who had her secondary school education in an all-girls boarding school. Some infections occur due to hygiene defaults, this is a grossly underrated issue; medically some of these infections can over time cause damage to the female fertility organs, certainly a woman’s worst nightmare. A lot of women and girls in the lower class use tissue paper because they cannot afford pads. In some stores in Lagos Island, for instance, sanitary pads are sold for as high as N1000 even the middle class suffer from the expenses of period products.”
Continuing, Nwogu said, “There are countless stories of girls who skip schools and women who skip working or business hours in fear of being stained because they cannot afford sanitary products. Menstruation matters to everyone. The inflation in Nigeria has worsened the situation. Even the average Nigerian is feeling the heat.”
Nwogu further said she seeks to raise awareness among the government, organisations, and corporations concerned, asking that sanitary pads should be free for girls.
“It would be brilliant to pass a bill making these period products free just like Scotland or aid our women by subsidising sanitary pads. The government needs to understand the plight of women and girls in Nigeria.”
