For researchers
What IMVAHA is about:
Addressing issues of menstrual health is crucial to achieve gender equality. Women's embodied knowledge on menstruation, which varies by context, is important for menstrual health management but often neglected in research. In addition - shockingly - international quality and safety standards do not exist for menstrual products, and research is limited on how menstrual products affect the vaginal microbiome, or the billions of microorganisms inhabiting the vaginal tract. Multi-level factors affect these bacteria, which play a crucial role in sexual and reproductive health and the prevention and risk of disease. The IMVAHA project aims at improving women's menstrual and vaginal health, while generating quality evidence on women's reproductive and menstrual health from a biosocial and transdisciplinary perspective.
There will be three working packages.
The IMVAHA-Project is an offspring of the ISALA-Sisterhood-Projects in Belgium, Cameroon and Peru.
Work package 1:
In Work package 1, we aim to learn more about women's embodied knowledge of menstrual hygiene management, their preferences for menstrual products, and the effects these products may have on their bodies, from vaginal microbiota to overall health. We are particularly interested in perceptions of bleeding, the vaginal microbiome, and how women relate to different menstrual hygiene management products and materials in terms of their bodily experiences. We will not limit our research to commercial menstrual hygiene products. Leaves, sponges, animal skins or dung have long been used to manage menstrual flow in many parts of the world. While modernist thought promises to liberate women from the plight of menstrual management through the introduction of modern, industrialised menstrual hygiene products, we will apply a critical postcolonial approach to the comparative analysis of women's experiences.
We will ask women how the products they use affect their bodies and how women imagine that the microbes that live in our bodies are affected by our hygiene practices. We will further explore whether and how women construct notions of the 'natural' in their perceptions of menstruation and menstrual health, and how this affects their practices and product choices. We are also interested to understand how women’s embodied knowledge can be integrated to shape the research process.
Researchers’ positionalities
“We have been sold convenience, post- consumer waste-heavy lifestyles in every aspect of our lives including menstruation”
“This project particularly motivated me because it is a combination of scientific and community actions. On a scientific level, we will address an actual women’s health need; on a community level we will implicate participants in various aspects of the projects.”
“Personally, I thank [the billions of microbes living in my body] every day for the hidden work they do!”
“It's fascinating! simply fascinating how my health is largely dependent on a third party”