Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North: Towards Visualised, Inclusive, and Applied Menstruation Studies

Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North is an edited collection that presents menstruation across the life course, from menarche to menopause. It takes a multidisciplinary perspective, based on academic research, activism, and creative work, to look at the varied and diverse lived experiences of menstruators across the Global South and North.

Beyond the biological facts of menstruation, there is little we can agree upon in a global context where culture determines what menstruation is, what consequences it has for the individual, and how it is best managed. The lived experience of menstruators is inextricably entangled with the body, cultured concepts of gender, religion, economics, and of course, life itself. This volume unpacks concepts in a poly-vocal approach, highlights creative and transformative methods, and expands menstrual health and hygiene management discourses to emphasise structural issues of gender inequality, politics, and human rights.

Kay Standing, Professor in Gender Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, Sara Parker, Reader in Development Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, Stefanie Lotter, Senior Research Fellow, SOAS, The University of London

Kay Standing is a Professor in Gender Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. She is an intersectional feminist with research interests in menstruation, menopause, sport, education, and gender-based violence in the UK and Nepal. She was Co-Convenor of the British Academy conference ’Menstruation: sharing experiences from the global north and south’ and Co-Investigator on the BA Global Challenge Research Fund project ’Dignity without Danger: Collaboratively analysing stigma and taboos to develop innovative strategies to address menstrual exclusion in Nepal’. Other research includes using creative methods for domestic abuse intervention programmes in schools. Kay is a founding member of the Menstruation Research Network.

Sara Parker is a Reader in Development Studies and Principal Investigator on ’Dignity Without Danger’. She has led a number of Higher Education Partnerships links between Liverpool John Moores University, Centre for Educational Research Innovation and Development (CERID), Padma Kanya Campus and Dhaka University and is committed to collaboration action research. She is currently the elected Chair of the Britain Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) and a trustee of a number of charities.

Stefanie Lotter is a Senior Research Fellow at SOAS where she taught courses in Himalayan Studies, Museum Studies, South Asian Culture, and Anthropology. She has also been Co-Investigator of ’Dignity without Danger’ and has co-written a chapter explaining the cosmology supporting menstrual exclusion in Nepal, focusing on the former legal framework, the Muluki Ain. She is currently working on a major research grant to study ’Heritage as Placemaking’ in Nepal and India.