Kathmandu [Nepal], July 14: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Lima Adhikari on Tuesday urged the government to strengthen menstrual health support in schools, warning that thousands of girls across Nepal continue to miss classes because of inadequate facilities, irregular access to sanitary pads and persistent social stigma.
Speaking during a meeting of the House of Representatives, Adhikari said menstruation is a natural biological process but remains a barrier to education for many girls, forcing them to miss school and put their dreams on hold.
“If, because of biological processes, girls have to leave school put their dreams on hold or carry the burden of shame and fear then that is a shared challenge of our education system, health system and social awareness,” she said.
Adhikari asked lawmakers to imagine a girl who dreams of becoming a doctor but cannot attend school for four or five days every month not because she is sick or unwilling to study but simply because she is menstruating.
Citing Save the Children’s 2025 data, she said 55.6 percent of girls surveyed in Nepal are absent from school during menstruation while 17.8 percent are unable to attend classes throughout their entire menstrual period.
She said these figures reflected more than absenteeism describing them as evidence of missed lessons, reduced self-confidence and lost opportunities.
“The problem is not menstruation. The problem lies in our society, in our structures, in our mindset and in our management,” Adhikari said.
While acknowledging that the government has introduced free sanitary pad distribution in public schools and included menstrual health in the school curriculum, she said implementation remains inadequate.
According to Adhikari, many schools still lack girl-friendly toilets, clean water, soap, sanitary pad disposal systems and regular supplies of sanitary products. In some cases, she said, girls are reluctant to inform teachers when they are menstruating because of stigma.
She also said menstruation continues to be associated with shame, impurity and taboo in many communities.
Adhikari said creating a menstruation-friendly environment is a constitutional responsibility, citing constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity, education, health and social justice.
She called on the federal, provincial and local governments to work together to improve implementation and put forward several recommendations. These included making the free sanitary pad distribution programme more systematic, ensuring every community school maintains adequate supplies and emergency stock, providing counselling through female teachers or health workers and keeping proper records.
She also urged the government to make menstruation-friendly water, sanitation and hygiene facilities mandatory in all schools including separate and safe toilets, clean water, soap, changing spaces and disposal bins.
Adhikari further called for a nationwide awareness campaign involving schools, parents, health institutions, women’s groups, youth clubs and the media to challenge stigma surrounding menstruation. She said eliminating harmful practices such as Chhaupadi would require not only laws but also sustained public awareness and monitoring.
