The Attitudes and Perceptions of Schoolboys Towards Menstruation in Ghana: Her Catamenia, Our Taboo

Menstruation is a natural process yet in many African communities, it issurrounded by taboos that hinder proper menstrual hygiene management.Consequently, girls often face stigma, embarrassment, and lack of support,particularly in school environments. Males lack accurate knowledge aboutmenstruation, reinforcing harmful attitudes and limiting support for femalerelatives. This study explored the attitudes, perceptions and factors influencingschoolboys’ attitudes towards menstruation in the Hohoe Municipality. Across-sectional study design was employed. A total of 273 schoolboys weresampled. Data analyses were carried out in STATA V.16.0. Logisticregression was fitted to identify significant factors at 95% CI and a p-value <0.05. The study revealed that 166 (60.8%) of the participants had a poorperception of menstruation. Predominant 145 (53.1%) also had poor attitudestowards menstruation. Further analysis revealed that participants in JHS three(AOR=0.46, 95% CI [0.33, 0.95]) and who had a good perception (AOR=0.38, 95% CI [0.16, 0.84]) about menstruation were less likely to have poorattitudes towards menstruation. The study concluded that there is an urgentneed for targeted educational interventions to close knowledge gaps, fosterpositive attitudes among boys, and promote gender equity and well-being inschool settings.