ティーンの月経をめぐる大きな文脈と小さなやりくり

―「もうひとつのニカラグア」での月経衛生対処調査を通じて―

抄録

In this paper, the author discusses what kind of assistance or actions would be appropriate that are based on emic realities of local communities, through a case study of teens'menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in “another Nicaragua.” The following three questions are explored to answer the inquiry: 1) What kind of large contexts do exist to generate “poverty pocket” areas where prerequisite basic infrastructure and public services for MHM are not provided while the country's economic conditions have been significantly improved?; 2) Under such social conditionings, how do teens going to public secondary schools deal with their menstruation at school and home?; and 3) what kind of supports or actions would be appropriate that are context-relevant to such realities? The field survey was conducted in Waspan city, the center of Waspan district of RACN (Nicaragua North Caribbean Autonomous Region), which is a border city to Honduras.

The following are the major findings of the research. First, regarding the contexts, it is confirmed that the Caribbean Nicaragua, where mixed-race indigenous Miskito people reside, has a history of multiple marginalizations. The region was first colonized by the UK and then economically exploited by US companies, and has also been encroached on and abandoned by the largely Mestizo Nicaraguan government. Second, the teen's MHM realities are examined. Interviews with middle school teachers revealed that there are no related programs or projects or even budget to fix school toilets destroyed by hurricanes. Questionnaires, interviews and domicile visits of the teens made clear that hygiene issues such as dirty toilets and shortage of water were of much greater concern than menstruation issues such as period pains or blood leakages. Possible correlations between alimentation and light menstruation are implied. Finally, the author makes some recommendations to realize context-relevant MHM supports/actions referring both to emic realities and etic MHM definitions and programs.