Kenyan Senator Gloria Aruba, who was asked to leave parliament because of a blood stain on her pants, told the BBC she was proud to stand up against “the stigma of menstruation”.
She added that she noticed the stain before entering the building, saying, “Since I’ve always advocated not stigmatizing menstruation, I thought I should go ahead and talk about it.”
Some deputies criticized Gloria, including another senator, saying she was not being respected enough.
During Tuesday’s plenary session, Sen Tabitha Mutinda asked the Senate president to rule on whether Gloria adhered to the parliament’s dress code, saying she found it uncomfortable and inappropriate.
Sen Tabitha Mutenda said: “She doesn’t know if she’s actually on her period, or if she’s just making it up, which is inappropriate.”
She added that there is a better way to raise this issue, and that her behavior was not setting a good example for young women and girls.
Gloria responded by saying she was disappointed with the handling of a “natural accident… there was a stain on my clothes”.
Dressed in a white suit, she told the Senate: “I think I dress according to the instructions in place—I wear a garment that covers me, I have a suit, but I don’t wear a tie.”
Gloria said her experience made her understand the discrimination some girls in Kenya face when they menstruate.
She added, “We have a girl who killed herself because of the same problem that I suffer from, and I understand now because it is women who are trying to criminalize it.”
A senator also criticized her.
image copyright Kenna Claude
Senator Enoch Wambua said: “We have wives and daughters, they menstruate, but it is important to deal with them personally without exposing them to other people. What Senator Gloria has done to this Parliament is a disgrace, it is a great disgrace to this House. It must not be allowed to happen.”
Gloria said Senate staff tried to dissuade her from entering the chamber.
“When I got out of the car, a senator ran over to cover me and told me to get back in the car,” she said. “Since I always try to destigmatize my period, I thought I should move on.”
And Senate President Amasun Kenji decided that Gloria should leave the hall.
“PMS is not a crime,” he said. He added, “Senator Gloria, I sympathize with you because you are on your natural period, you have stained your fine suit, I am asking you to leave so that you can go change and come back in unstained clothes.”
After leaving the Senate building, Gloria did not change her clothes. She spoke to the media, then visited a school in the capital, Nairobi, to distribute sanitary pads.
Senator Gloria is behind a proposal to increase state funding for free sanitary pads and feminine hygiene products in all public schools.