In an apparent menstrual activism effort, a Kenyan senator was removed from parliament after attending a session while wearing a white suit stained red.
On Wednesday, Gloria Orwoba of the ruling coalition is expected to table a motion on a bill to distribute free sanitary pads as part of efforts to reduce period poverty.
Senators disrupted Tuesday’s afternoon session to bring Ms. Orwoba’s “inappropriate dress code” to the Speaker’s attention.
“I am amazed that someone can stand here and suggest that the House has been degraded because a lady has had her periods,” the senator said.
Speaker Amason Kingi ordered the senator to change her attire before being allowed back into the chambers.
Senator Orwoba informed journalists outside the chambers that they are working to address the shadow pandemic which is a period of stigma and poverty. One of the things she is fighting for and attempting to enact is the provision of free sanitary towels to all school-age children.
