“I Treat My Daughters Not Like My Mother Treated Me”: Migrant and Refugee Women’s Constructions and Experiences of Menarche and Menstruation

Abstract

Hawkey, Ussher, and Perz bring attention to the constructions and experiences of menarche and menstruation from the perspective of migrant and refugee women resettled in Australia and Canada. The authors describe how the positioning of menstruation as shameful, polluting, and something to be concealed has implications for girls’ and women’s embodied experiences, as well as for their level of knowledge about menstruation at menarche. They demonstrate how migrant and refugee women variably adopted, adapted, and questioned cultural practices and how this impacted their engagement with their daughters, showing women’s negotiation or navigation of differing cultural contexts following migration. By identifying the women’s experiences, the authors highlight details that are essential to deliver culturally appropriate medical practice, health promotion, and health education.