‘She has become Brave:’ the role of menstrual health education in building girls’ agency

Abstract

This paper investigates the causal pathway of life skills Binti Shupavu program in Tanzania to show how and why the program works to support the development of adolescent girls’ agency. We collected data from 52 stakeholders via 15 focus group discussions and interviews and utilized a qualitative process tracing methodology to construct a causal pathway from the Binti Shupavu Health and Wellness curriculum, towards girls’ agentic capacity. The findings reveal that successfully navigating the ‘shock’ and stress of menstruation at school, and the practice of self-care, leads to improved self-confidence (kujitambua), ‘bravery’ (self-advocacy) and decision-making around bodily autonomy. This process is facilitated by destigmatizing menstruation and catalysing social norms change within communities through parental engagement sessions and girl-centred pedagogy. We argue that the application of menstrual health knowledge provides important ‘cognitive bridging’ opportunities for the development and transfer of key soft skill competencies to girls’ lives.