Women in Medicine Month: Advancing Menstrual Health of Kurdish Refugees

By Arazoo Shwany, OMS III, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine, KRR cofounder, director of operations

The June heat in Iraqi Kurdistan was dry and oppressive, with temperatures exceeding 45°C, but our spirits were high. My team looked at me, awaiting further instruction as we began setting up the Kurdish Refugee Relief Foundation (KRR)’s fourth biannual menstrual health distribution. Six hours, one hundred interviews and two thousand reusable menstrual pads and underwear later, our team was heading back to the city to commemorate another milestone in KRR’s history. We celebrated over burgers and chicken wings, reflecting on how far we had come from our humble beginnings.

The KRR was founded in 2020 by four Kurdish American women driven by a singular mission to end menstrual poverty in refugee camps. As the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world, we decided to dive headfirst into a new project—building our nonprofit from the ground up. Menstrual inequity, or the disparities in access to menstrual health products and education, is an issue that affects millions of women and girls around the world. The implications are simultaneously widespread and underappreciated.

Without safe and reliable access to menstrual products, girls are left with few choices but to miss school during their period, hindering their educational prospects. Women in the workforce are similarly debilitated by both the lost income and increasing costs of menstrual products. Inadequate access to menstrual products and sanitation, particularly in developing nations, greatly worsens the risk of reproductive tract infections. The issue is also largely ignored in many societies that attach shame and stigma to menstruation, which only further exacerbates the harms. When women and their concerns continue to be neglected, women are at further risk of physical, emotional and financial abuse.

Our founding members decided to focus on menstrual inequity because it is as ubiquitous as it is personal. Something that we took for granted suddenly meant the difference between a life full of opportunity and one without. From the inception of KRR, the challenges have been plentiful. At times, it has felt like moving mountains to execute a successful delivery of sustainable menstrual products across the world. Our team has crowdfunded, partnered with NGOs and private companies, coordinated humanitarian teams and done the heavy lifting to deliver high-quality, reusable products and culturally mindful educational programs to the women and girls of Iraqi Kurdistan’s refugee camps. We also have been intentional in growing our mission and strategy as our foundation expands. We regularly conduct surveys and interviews to assess the evolving needs of women and girls to ensure we are investing in products that will last for decades.

I am not only inspired by the women in my community, but also emboldened to connect with the many others that I have yet to meet. Stewarding KRR has proven to me that the status quo is not immutable. I urge my fellow women in medicine, or women in any space for that matter, to deliberately step into discomfort every so often and discover the opportunities that present themselves when you embrace chaos and challenge the norm.

Learn more about KRR at their website kurdishrefugeerelieffoundation.com.