Linda Scott, Catherine Dolan and Sue Dopson are examining how puberty, and menstruation in particular, can have an adverse effect on girls' educational performance and constrain their long-term prospects to become productive members of soceity in developing countries.
This research project, in collaboration with Paul Montgomery from the Department of Social Work and Social Policy, will explore whether appropriate facilities for managing menstruation (sanitary pads, private spaces, water, disposal mechanisms) improve female educational outcomes in developing countries; how reproductive health information is provided to young girls in developing nations; and the institutional context (schools, families, churches or community groups) that provide the best mode of delivery for reproductive health information and sanitary products.
The research is supported by the Fell Fund, for an exploratory study in Ghana, and will lead to a larger quantitative project potentially across multiple sites and countries.