Why this 16-year-old resorts to using rags instead of sanitary pads during her menses

There is a campaign, or what many will describe as a passionate appeal to authorities in the country to pull ensure that the taxes that currently exist on sanitary products are either completely lifted, or slashed substantially.

The arguments have included the fact that these taxes compound an already precarious situation; the situation where many young girls are unable to afford the monthly expenses that come with managing this biological ‘menace.’

And that is the case of 16-year-old, Benedicta Boateng, of the Kokroko Basic School of the Techiman North constituency, who is forced to omit school every time she gets into her monthly period.

Highlighting her story as a way of furthering the campaign for the removal of taxes on sanitary products in the country, TV3’s Godwin Asediba travelled to her village to speak with her.

Benedicta explained how challenging it is for her.

“When I woke up, my period was in but I did not have a pad. My mother said she could not afford one so, I had to use a rag. When I take it to class, it will get soaked and my friends will laugh at me and that is why I didn’t go to school,” she said.

And in place of no sanitary pads, the young lady resorts to the use of rags; the same ones she has used for years – specifically since she was 14.

That has become her only alternative although she’s never been comfortable with it.

Benedicta also told the journalist that she is unable to recall the last time she used a sanitary pad.

“There is no shop where I can get a pad around here unless I go out of the village, otherwise, I use the rag.

“Whenever I use the rag and I am flowing heavily, it stains my dress. I then have to replace it and wash it, but if someone could help me hey sanitary pads, it will ease the stains and then I can always be in school,” she appealed.

According to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), menstrual hygiene products such as sanitary pads and tampons are classified under “Finished Goods” or final consumer goods.

As a result, they carry a 20% import tax. Products that are otherwise classified as “Essential Social Goods,” are taxed at zero rate.

Not only is there an import tax on sanitary products, they carry an additional Value Added Tax (VAT) of between 12.5-15%.



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