GIZ Gender WebsiteIn the light of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, GIZ Rwanda is hosting the art exhibition #LetsTalkPERIOD to raise awareness that we need to end stigma and taboos around Gender-Based Violence and menstruation. The exhibition highlights steps towards advancing gender equality and inclusion in a new transformative way; it exhibits pieces of arts from South African artists as well as Rwandan artist Crista Uwase.
Understanding the Link Between Gender-Based Violence and Period Poverty
Period poverty refers to the lack of resources and support to afford and access menstrual products, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, information and education to manage menstruation. It affects nearly 500 million people worldwide and imposes barriers that impact the fundamental rights, safety, and daily participation of women and girls. The struggle for menstrual health and hygiene is deeply connected to Gender-Based Violence (GBV), as the stigma around menstruation can lead to exclusion, discrimination, and increased vulnerability and violence for those unable to access necessary resources.
The current situation in Rwanda mirrors this reality. 37% of girls and women aged 15 – 49 have experienced some form of GBV. These issues often stem from harmful cultural norms, silence, stigma and the necessary support. For many, the lack of resources and support to afford menstrual products or the information around the menstrual cycle means missing school or work, making them more susceptible to poverty and further GBV.
The Exhibition: Art as a Medium for Change
GIZ Rwanda is now joining the #LetsTalkPERIOD campaign, which builds on Viva con Agua’s award-winning #Dance4WASH campaign and GIZ’s #LetsTalkPERIOD & #kickTheSTIGMA campaigns in Albania, Nepal, the Philippines and Zambia, which have already reached more than 10 million people since 2021. In collaboration with local influencers, artists and well-known personalities, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is working to raise awareness on menstrual health and hygiene. By encouraging open dialogue on menstrual health and hygiene, this campaign challenges cultural taboos on social media and through various artistic expressions: visual art, spoken word, music, dance, and poetry.
The #LetsTalkPERIOD exhibition, previously showcased in Cape Town, Zanzibar, Hamburg, and Bonn, is now in Kigali. Featuring works from South African artists like Busiswa Mazwana, Maria Masha, Sello Letswalo, Aneesah Girie, Lesego Tatiana Ditshego, and Rwandan artist Crista Uwase, the exhibition raises awareness around menstrual health and hygiene through visual art. Crista Uwase’s collages highlight the importance of de-stigmatizing menstruation within Rwandan society, encouraging viewers to consider the societal norms that contribute to menstrual stigma and GBV.
#LetsTalkPERIOD is a collaboration of GIZ, Viva con Agua South Africa, the Spier Arts Trust, the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, and the Millerntor Gallery.
GIZ Rwanda’s Commitment to Breaking the Silence on GBV and Menstruation
GIZ Rwanda is committed to breaking the silence as integral parts of gender equality. GIZ Rwanda is implementing internal measures as well as project activities focusing on the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence, tackling Period Poverty and strengthening Women Economic Empowerment.
GIZ Rwanda’s Gender Focal Person is part of the MenstruAction staff initiative, who won the second price in this year’s Gender Competition: Champions for Gender Equality – Good Practice Examples from GIZ (page 30). In recognition of outstanding efforts to support gender equality by ensuring menstrual health needs are met at work, the Period Positive Workplace Coalition has certified GIZ Rwanda. “We are proud that our efforts to be a Period Positive Workplace here in Rwanda have been recognised. This is Feminist Development Cooperation in practice” says Maik Schwarz, Country Director of GIZ Rwanda.
The Project “Prevention of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (P-SGBV)”, together with its partners, has reached out to about 2000 women and girls in different districts of the country over the past couple of months. In safe spaces, women and girls were invited to learn more about GBV, menstrual health and hygiene and reusable sanitary pads, which were distributed to them as part of the sessions.
Raising awareness on Rwanda’s new USSD GBV Information Chatbot *350# is part of the sessions, so that people know about the possibility to access more information around GBV.
USSD stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. This is a tool for which only a feature phone and not even internet connectivity is needed. With the USSD Chatbot people can access crucial information about GBV and related questions around sexual and reproductive health and rights – free of charge and anonymously.
With the “ZFD SIGA Refugee Programme” and the Project “Dutere Intambwe – Improved self-reliance and self-termination of refugees and host population”, the project was also able to reach women and girls in Mahama Refugee Camp and host communities.
The Project “Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment” in partnership with Health Poverty Action and five tea estates in the Western Province is empowering GBV-affected women with safe, stable jobs, creation of savings groups, and improved working conditions particularly for tea pluckers. The project works to prevent re-victimization by reducing women’s economic dependence on their perpetrators.
Highlights from the Opening Ceremony in Kigali
At the opening of the #LetsTalkPERIOD exhibition at the DigiCenter in Kigali, H.E. Ambassador Heike Uta Dettmann of the German Embassy in Kigali underscored the importance of addressing period poverty and GBV. She emphasized the need for safe spaces where women and girls can discuss menstrual health openly and free from shame.
GIZ Rwanda Country Director Maik Schwarz highlighted how societal taboos around GBV and menstruation hinder progress towards a gender-equal and inclusive future. “Sexual and gender-based violence and menstruation stigma limit entire societies,” he noted. “When women and girls are stigmatized and excluded, it impacts entire families, communities, and economies.”
Blandine Umuziranenge, founder of Kosmotive, shared her social enterprise’s mission to improve reproductive, maternal, and child health in Rwanda and across Africa, emphasizing its collaboration with the GIZ Project, P-SGBV.
In a powerful spoken word poem, Esther Hadassah Muhozi expressed the urgency of breaking the silence surrounding menstrual health and GBV, calling for systemic change and empowering women to reclaim their voices.
“I’ll never forget that day, when the clock clicked womanhood. I had become exactly what I feared…a women. It wasn’t anything I imagined for the one that was supposed to teach me all about it had left me. […]” (Excerpt from the poem ‘That Day’)
Joining our partners and talented artists, GIZ Rwanda aims to make the reality of millions of women and girls worldwide visible, working toward a world where menstruation is recognized as what it is: a natural process of life.
An Invitation for Change
Arts-based approaches offer an innovative way to spotlight critical gender issues like GBV, period poverty or other sensitive topics. GIZ Rwanda invites other country offices to join the movement and use this approach for your future events.
Art has long been a transformative tool for feminist movements, helping to challenge harmful gender norms and spark dialogue. By leveraging visual arts, music, poetry, and performance, we can address sensitive topics, engage diverse audiences, and create safe spaces for reflection and to challenge societal taboos.