June Newsletter: Period Diaries, Pride Month, and Press Coverage!

She’s the First fights for a world where every girl can choose her own future. We believe that every girl should be educated, respected, and heard. Our monthly newsletter brings you the latest news and information on uplifting girls’ power.?

This month, we share about the impacts of period poverty, our new period tracker My Period Diary, and the danger of current LGBTQ+ legislation. We also share a warm welcome to our summer 2023 interns and prepare for the Girls First Summit in July!?

Period Poverty?

In Kenya, girls not only experience stigma surrounding their periods, but there is a lack of access to menstrual products. In 2023, the cost of period products doubled, leaving many girls unable to afford these essential products. These girls are forced to use paper, blankets, torn clothes, or old mattresses to prevent bleeding through their clothing during their cycle. The lack of access to menstrual products and stigma surrounding periods has led many girls in Kenya to miss school. On average, girls in Kenya lose 165 days of school due to their periods.?

The Global Girls’ Bill of Rights was co-organized by She’s the First in 2019 and identifies 10 fundamental rights of all girls. Click here to sign the Global Girls’ Bill of Rights and join the movement. This bill states that girls should be given access to free, quality reproductive healthcare, which includes access to information about menstruation and access to period products. Yet, in Kenya and across the world, many girls continue to be affected by period poverty.?

My Period Diary

Many girls lack the resources and knowledge to track their menstrual cycles. Last month, we launched a new resource, My Period Diary, for girls to track their periods and identify patterns in their cycles. This resource is currently available in 4 languages, and will be distributed for free to community-based organizations throughout July. Download My Period Diary today and check out our website to learn more about menstrual health!?

Pride Month

The mission of She’s The First is to secure the rights of girls around the world, which includes transgender girls, gender non-conforming folk, and anyone else who identifies with girlhood. As we take the month of June to celebrate the beauty of the LGBTQ community around the world, we must also recognize the efforts being made to take away their rights. The Human Rights Campaign has declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ people living in the United States; more than 75 anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law so far in 2023. That is more than double the number of bills last year–and we still have six months to go.?

Many of these bills directly target transgender youth, such as a law that would require teachers, administrators, and other school staff to forcibly out their students if they decide to go by a new name or pronouns at school. The sports participation ban, in particular, disproportionately affects transgender girls in 23 states.?

“Don’t Say LGBTQ+” laws are currently active in 6 states, which bans any discussion of sexual orientation, gender identity, or LGBTQ people in classrooms. At She’s the First, we make it our mission to encourage self-expression, self-advocacy, and conversations involving diverse perspectives. These laws also directly contradict our Global Girl’s Bill of Rights, which states that girls should be protected under the law without fear or unequal treatment, and that girls should be free from discrimination or stereotyping. How do we expect our children to learn about those different from them–or even better understand themselves–if we do not allow them to discuss topics that some people believe to be taboo??

To view a full list of the anti-LGBTQ bills across the United States, see https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/national-state-of-emergency-for-lgbtq-americans.?

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help combat these bills, you can visit the Human Rights Campaign’s page here: https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/count-me-in?

She’s the First Highlights!

Every month, we like to highlight important milestones, events, and accomplishments by our staff and organization. This month, we’d love to give a shout out to our Director of Programs and Impact, Catherine Kiama !

Kate was featured in an article for Kenya’s national paper, The Nation! Read about her journey and how her passions have influenced her work here.

Also, welcome to our summer 2023 interns!

Development Team

Dakota Storey (they/she/he) is a recent graduate from George Mason University with a passion for organization and administrative management. They are currently working on their own business, which is an online store to highlight the sustainable work of queer and disabled artists.?

Bella Travis (she/her) is a rising senior at American University majoring in Justice and Law. She is interested in nonprofit management and would like to work for a women’s rights’ organization in the future.?

Advocacy Team?

Jenny Chen (she/her) is a rising senior at Barnard College majoring in psychology and minoring in economics. Her career interests include education, consulting, and business, and she hopes this internship will deepen her understanding of nonprofit management and help her to improve her networking and communication skills.?

Anika Mukker (she/her) is a student at Dartmouth College, majoring in Government and Anthropology with interests in Women and Gender Studies. While eager to explore, she hopes to pursue a career in international affairs at the intersection of peace-building, education, and gender.

Programs Team

Christine Kamau (she/her) is a finance graduate from Kenyatta University, Kenya.?She is passionate about entrepreneurship, storytelling and social impact. She seeks to explore all her interests, from love for fashion, her obsession with Spanish, and interest in content creation as a tool for social change to her appreciation of financial literacy, particularly for women and girls.

Video Editing Team

Ariel Shih (she/they) is a rising senior at the University of Chicago and will be graduating in 2024. They are interested in graphic design, video production, writing, and anything creative!

Our Girls First Summit will be taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 5th to 7th! The summit brings together members of the STF Partner Coalition for knowledge sharing and training around the best practices to support girls’ rights. This year, 12 of the community-based organizations in our Partner Coalition will be in attendance and meet the STF team. We are also proud to share that 80 leaders from 40 organizations will be at the Girls First Summit. In addition, some partners will be bringing along the girls that they serve! Keep an eye out for more news surrounding the summit!

Additionally, on July 8th, our Girl-Centered Incubator fellows will meet in person in Nairobi for the second time! This program includes women and girls who have founded community-based organizations that work to promote girls’ rights. We will also attend the Women Deliver Conference in Kigali, Rwanda from July 17th to July 21st. This is a triennial conference which examines the state of girls’ and women's rights and makes commitments for governmental organizations and NGOs to advance gender equity.?

Be sure to follow us on Instagram at @shesthefirst for the first look at what we’re up to!

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