YouTube video greatly overstates number of SA girls missing school
This article is more than 7 years old
A screenshot of the YouTube video, titled "Should You Stop Wearing Tampons?"In a recent video published on YouTube, relationship expert Kimberly Moffit claims: “In South Africa nine million girls ages [sic] 13 to 19 miss school because of a lack of menstrual hygiene products or facilities to change them throughout the day.”
The video, which had been viewed by nearly 700,000 people when we watched it, asks the question “Should You Stop Wearing Tampons?” It suggests that menstrual cups offer women a cheaper, environmentally friendly alternative.
But the South African statistics used in the video are just plain wrong.
A recent Africa Check report debunked the claim that 7 million South African girls miss school every month due to not having access to sanitary pads. It found that it was possible that around 3.7 million girls from Grade 3 to Grade 12 could be affected.
The claim in this YouTube video greatly overstates the number of girls aged 13 to 19 in South Africa. The country’s 2016 Community Survey estimated that there were only 3,520,381 girls in this age group - less than half the figure cited in the video. - 26/09/2016
Additional reading
Do 7 million SA girls miss school every month due to lack of sanitary pads?
https://africacheck.org/reports/do-7-million-sa-girls-miss-school-every-month-due-to-lack-of-sanitary-pads/
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