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(CNN Spanish) - In Bogotá, the case of a woman living in the street who used to reuse sanitary towels that she found in the garbage during her menstrual period made the Constitutional Court of Colombia order the sanitary authorities of the capital of Colombia to provide Mandatory hygienic towels to street residents.
The Constitutional Court ordered that the health authorities of the district, including the Secretariat of Social Integration, be responsible for "the supply of such materials to absorb adequate menstrual fluids" to women living in the streets, the high court said Monday.
The plaintiffs alleged "a flagrant violation of human dignity and fundamental rights to health," the Court said in a statement, as women who do not have sufficient financial resources "are forced to cope with their menstrual periods without minimum conditions. of healthiness ”.
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And that was the case of the woman in question, because according to the Court she used to “use rags, reuse sanitary napkins” and “lacked the possibility of managing her menstrual hygiene”. The Court said that within sexual and reproductive rights, women have the right to "properly use the material to absorb or collect menstrual fluid."
From this order, the Secretariat of Social Integration of Bogotá must implement a “contingency plan” through which “suitable” absorbent materials are provided for this population, which includes “an adequate registration system on the choice of material and the number of deliveries. "
The Ministry of Social Integration that has several homes in which it offers, among others, spaces for the personal cleanliness of men and women. CNN contacted this entity to obtain a comment on the order of the Court, but has not yet received a response.
The plaintiffs said that menstruation has been used to exclude women from educational, work and social spaces, because it is considered a taboo, the situation is much more intense when women are in a vulnerable situation, which “makes them invisible and it prevents them from effectively enjoying their fundamental rights, ”says the Court document.
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But it will not only be the State's responsibility to provide sanitary napkins, but also spaces where women can change privately and as many times as necessary; access to facilities with soap and water to wash the body and to dispose of used materials, and education about the menstrual cycle and how to handle them in a dignified manner and without discomfort, says the Court.
Hundreds of women could benefit from this measure. According to the most recent DANE census, there are 9,538 street inhabitants in Bogotá. Of these, 1,061 are women.
The measure could be extended to other cities in the country, as the Court urged other entities to “review their public health and street habitation policies and update them by including the menstrual hygiene management component”.
Menstruation Hygienic towels