Sanitary Pads Shocker: The silent attack on women’s bodies

“THE control of women’s bodies has always been central to political power.” This striking quote by Silvia Federici is particularly hard-hitting in light of the perpetual drama around women’s rights — particularly when it comes to health, and more so when it comes to menstruation.

This week, however, Federici’s warning echoed in a painfully palpable way, after a UFS study uncovered hormone-disrupting chemicals in menstrual products sold in South Africa.

This study revealed a danger far more sinister than “period poverty” politics. This is a literal exposé on the chemical warfare targeting South African women across generations.

From the millions of mothers in the workforce to the youngest girls in school, women across our society are being silently poisoned. Menstrual products — the most basic, trusted items — being knowingly riddled with toxic chemicals is not a mere oversight in production. It is a blatant weaponisation of biology disguised as everyday products. It is an outrageous violation of women’s trust, safety, basic human dignity and constitutionally enshrined rights.

The UFS Study was particularly gruelling considering that hormone-disrupting chemicals were detected in “all” of the menstrual products tested, exposing a seemingly-intentional systemic regulatory oversight across the entire nation.

Furthermore, when we consider that women spend decades of their lives on their periods and are forced to use products that threaten their hormonal health and fertility, the scale of this deeply personal injustice is dumbfounding.

What’s worse is that these are not occasional exposures — they are repeated, intimate, and long-term, with harrowing consequences that could affect generations. And yet, South African regulations do not require testing for these chemicals, leaving millions of women unknowingly at risk every month.

What makes this even more outrageous is that women are forced to navigate this invisible threat in silence. Unlike other public health crises, this one is hidden in plain sight, inside products marketed as safe, trusted, and essential.

Every month, women unknowingly ingest, absorb, and endure chemical exposure that may disrupt hormones, fertility, and long-term health. And while this quietly jeopardises millions of lives, those in power remain indifferent, letting profit and negligence dictate the safety of half the population.

What’s clear is that women are under various forms of attack in our society. The real shock is how long these violations are consistently ignored.

This study has certainly shed a stark light on women’s health in our country, particularly how little is truly known. The study does not specify the resulting harm or measure the real-world impact on those who are exposed. The core issue is obvious: Without studying the decades-long effects, women’s health risks are being overlooked — treated as expendable — rather than addressed.

Studies such as these also emphasise the rampant effects of inequalities across our society. Women from lower-income households face repeated exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals because cheaper menstrual products dominate the market.

For decades, they have used products that threaten their hormonal and reproductive health, simply because safer alternatives are out of reach. This is more than a health issue — it’s a social and economic inequality baked into the everyday lives of South African women.

Safer menstrual products, such as organic pads, cloth pads, and menstrual cups, exist, but access is constrained by cost, availability, and awareness — turning what should be a normal, safe part of life into a risk-filled experience for millions. Women shouldn’t have to gamble with their hygiene just to protect their health. Access to truly safe menstrual products is a human right, not a luxury.

The study by UFS has been a prime example of “rotten trees bear rotten fruit.” Manufacturers profit while poisoning women’s bodies, and the government allows it to happen unchecked. This is an insolent level of criminal negligence.

Those in power have turned South African women into real-life lab rats. And the consequences are impossible to deny. Young girls may never bear children. Older women are at higher risk of cancer. Prolonged periods every month mean women are exposed repeatedly, silently, to substances that may compromise their health for life.

This is a deliberate, systemic, unrelenting attack on women’s health, autonomy, and futures. A silent experiment that’s been secretly snuffing out the lives of millions.

And as Gloria Steinem scrupulously said: “If men could menstruate, the conversation would be very different.”

* Tswelopele Makoe is a gender and social justice activist and editor at Global South Media Network. She is a researcher, columnist, and an Andrew W Mellon scholar at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, UWC.

** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media.

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