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Who are we ? Jeyetna is an intersectional feminist collective fighting for menstrual justice, based in Lebanon. We chose the name ‘Jeyetna’, which means ‘we are coming’ in Lebanese Arabic, based on the euphemism commonly used to say “I have my period”. (That a more explicit term does not exist demonstrates the persistent embarrassment and unease that surrounds the subject of periods in Lebanon.) Our story We began our journey 6 months after the blast that destroyed Beirut and propelled the country into an additional crisis on top of the ongoing crises: economic, financial, political and health (with the Covid-19 pandemic). After months of distress, it was time to bring a sustainable solution to the table. In November 2020, Evelina Llewellyn, film director, gathered an all-women Lebanese team to portray 10 stories of period poverty across the country, filming women from different socio-economic, geographic, and age groups. The team spent days with each interviewee building the intimate portraits that are at the heart of Jeyetna - A 67-minute feature documentary. These cameos include Amira, a Syrian refugee, Funmi, a house worker in the Kafala system from Nigiria, and Gigi, a transgender woman from Beirut. ‘Jeyetna the collective’ is a by-product of ‘Jeyetna the documentary’ and sets out to break the taboo and stigma around periods and period poverty by opening up the subject and starting conversations. Our aim is to shift the topic of periods from a personal issue to a collective one. The context in which we operate In 2020, when the economic crisis worsened in Lebanon, the government subsidised products they considered essential such as razors and condensed milk: period products were excluded from the list. Old cloth, tissue rolls, paper, newspapers, used pads, etc...This is what more than 80% of women suffering from period poverty in Lebanon are using during their menstruation. In a region where gender inequality is pronounced and women’s health is an ongoing taboo, period poverty in Lebanon is now becoming an urgent health crisis. In the past years Lebanon has undergone a popular uprising coupled with a political crisis, an explosion, political instability and is currently struggling with its most severe economic crisis in history. For years, Lebanon was considered a relatively stable country in the region. Recently the country’s economy has collapsed due to a mix of government malpractice, economic instability and international interference. The existing crises were compounded in 2020 by the 4th of August explosion which caused hundreds to lose lives, thousands of injuries, and 300 000 people to lose their homes. In a country struggling to rebuild and survive the multiple crises, everyday products have tripled in price in the last year, and vulnerable groups are now finding everyday necessities unaffordable. It is in this ever worsening context that we are seeking to address the issue of a valid study of period poverty. What is Period Poverty? If you use the toilet in a public area or a coffee shop you will very likely find toilet paper available as this is considered an essential product... Then why are period products not equally available...? Around the world periods remain a taboo topic. Period products are still taxed as luxury products in many countries, blood is blue on period adverts on the television and periods are seen as a personal issue and not a collective one. All of these factors contribute directly to shame and stigma around menstruation, meaning that most women will grow up feeling silenced about their bodies and cycles. A direct consequence of this is period poverty. While there is no official definition of period poverty, at Jeyetna we define it as: The lack of access to period products and different options The lack of access to a private and clean bathroom The lack of access to a safe space / a person to talk about it The lack of access to education and knowledge about menstruation. Period poverty affects both women’s physical and mental health! The lack of education on women’s health, causes extreme problems like women missing opportunities such as going to school or to work, serious health issues due to lack of access to clean bathroom and products or avoiding seeking medical care for small issues that then become more severe, leading to illness, depression, fear, and in some extreme cases suicide. Many women and people who menstruate will live all their lives with shame and misunderstanding about their own bodies. Access to period care is a human right and period poverty, a product of social injustice. Our events Our aim is to shift the topic of periods from a personal issue to a collective one. By starting conversations, redefining menstruation, and approaching periods in a holistic and environmentally friendly way, we aim to normalize periods and make menstrual care accessible to all. Jeyetna provides solutions through education, sustainability (through the provision of reusable products that last up to 15 years) and the creation of safe spaces for participants to share a collective period experience. We tackle period poverty by organizing events that consist of: The screening of the documentary directed by Evelina Llewellyn (co-founder of Jeyetna). Each screening is followed by a Q&A in the shape of a safe space where participants reflect on the content and share their experience, guided by a Jeyetna discussion mediator. An awareness session on periods and period products, presenting reusable and disposable options (reusable pads, panties, menstrual cups, tampons and pads) and answering any questions or concerns. Product distribution: each of the participants is offered 2 products of their choice, in addition to a hot water bottle to help with period pain. Additional activities: as of March 2022, we collaborate with Koun, an NGO giving yoga classes to marginalized communities, teaching the participants stretching and massage techniques to relieve period pain in a sustainable way. A Collective mission Since July 2021 Jeyetna has organised 27 events in 8 different regions distributing products to 755 women and 355 girls. We have organised 5 online period discussion circles and screened the documentary three times in France in collaboration with Cinema la Clef, les Valises pour Beyrouth and Règles Elementaires. We have collaborated with many local NGOs and non-profit (Wing woman Lebanon, Koun NGO, RDFL, Haven for Artists, Marsa, Jeyetik, Wish x AUBMC, Gesture from the Heart, Basket beats borders, Nation Station, Toofoola, Fe-Male, WPA, RDFL) and international ones (UNDP, Les valises pour Beyrouth, Regles Elementaires, and Ranute, Smoon and Moonz). Jeyetna has featured in many medias such as L’Orient-le-Jour, BBC Arabic, The Independent, Mademoiselle, The New Arab, TV5Monde, The New humanitarian, MTV, Noovo, The Daily Star, Yourmiddleeast, Beirut City Guide, OHCHR and The World Sucks. We have also intervened at a MEPI-TLS gender workshop at the American University of Beirut. In June 2022 Jeyetna was invited as Youth Representative to open the first ever panel on menstrual hygiene management in the context of the United Nations 50th Human rights council in Geneva. Our target population We provide content for all people that menstruate in Lebanon regardless of their legal status. We strive to be as inclusive as possible and have organized specific events for under-represented communities (migrant workers, refugees, and the LGBTQ+ community). Jeyetna team and structure Our collective is composed of 90% of young Lebanese women and queer folks under 30. In a highly centralised country, we work towards building a network of Jeyetna advocates across regions in their own community, Our structure is flexible, and we welcome any initiative that could make our fight against period poverty more holistic and comprehensive. We prioritize partnerships with small women-led initiatives. We need your support! All in all, in a country on the edge of economic collapse, a pandemic, political instability, and conflict, life for women and people who menstruate is challenged by constant hardship. On top of this, no one should have to choose between milk for her baby or pads for her periods. No one should have to miss a day's work because she cannot afford products. No one should have to live in shame and misunderstanding about her own body. But this can be changed. By opening this discussion, we can break the silence! PERIOD. As the crisis worsens, our activity is needed more than ever. Our team of 10 are working around the clock to ensure that our products and events reach as many women as possible. We are seeing immediate results from our on-ground actions, but we are also witnessing the ever growing demand and need for our work. To ensure our future events and actions we need your support! Any donation is highly appreciated. With $5 you donate 1 hot water bottle: a sustainable solution for period pain With $9 you donate 1 set of 2 reusable cups. Each woman recieves 2 sizes (1 smaller size for lighter moments of the flow or spotting & 1 for the heavier part of her period) ensuring up to 10 years of menstrual independance for 1 woman. With $20 you donate 1 pack of reusable pads (enough for 1 cycle for 1 woman) that are made in Lebanon by the association Wing Woman Lebanon. Prices of the pads include the salaries of the women who make them, who are palestinian refugees from Shatila. With $75 you cover 1 Jeyetna awareness session for women in need. Each session lasts 2 hours and are given by young female and queer activists in Lebanon. With $100, 10 women are independent in terms of products for up to 15 years. 10 reusable menstrual cups can be purchased and then distributed during our events. Each woman recieves 2 sizes (1 smaller size for lighter moments of the flow or spotting & 1 for the heavier part of her period) ensuring up to 15 years of menstrual independance for 10 women With $600 you buy 30 reusable pads packs that are made in Lebanon by the association Wing Woman Lebanon. Prices of the pads include the salaries of the women who make them, who are palestinian refugees from Shatila.- With $3000 you ensure 1 event for 30 women which includes the screening of the documentary and discussion circle, an awareness session, reusable and disposable product ditribution, a yoga session, distribution of hot water bottles, and catering. Evelina Llewellyn et Vanessa Zammar, in the name of the Jeyetna team.
Who are we ? Jeyetna is an intersectional feminist collective fighting for menstrual justice, based in Lebanon. We chose the name ‘Jeyetna’, which means ‘we are coming’ in Lebanese Arabic, based on the euphemism commonly used to say “I have my period”. (That a more explicit term does not exist demonstrates the persistent embarrassment and unease that surrounds the subject of periods in Lebanon.) Our story We began our journey 6 months after the blast that destroyed Beirut and propelled the country into an additional crisis on top of the ongoing crises: economic, financial, political and health (with the Covid-19 pandemic). After months of distress, it was time to bring a sustainable solution to the table. In November 2020, Evelina Llewellyn, film director, gathered an all-women Lebanese team to portray 10 stories of period poverty across the country, filming women from different socio-economic, geographic, and age groups. The team spent days with each interviewee building the intimate portraits that are at the heart of Jeyetna - A 67-minute feature documentary. These cameos include Amira, a Syrian refugee, Funmi, a house worker in the Kafala system from Nigiria, and Gigi, a transgender woman from Beirut. ‘Jeyetna the collective’ is a by-product of ‘Jeyetna the documentary’ and sets out to break the taboo and stigma around periods and period poverty by opening up the subject and starting conversations. Our aim is to shift the topic of periods from a personal issue to a collective one. The context in which we operate In 2020, when the economic crisis worsened in Lebanon, the government subsidised products they considered essential such as razors and condensed milk: period products were excluded from the list. Old cloth, tissue rolls, paper, newspapers, used pads, etc...This is what more than 80% of women suffering from period poverty in Lebanon are using during their menstruation. In a region where gender inequality is pronounced and women’s health is an ongoing taboo, period poverty in Lebanon is now becoming an urgent health crisis. In the past years Lebanon has undergone a popular uprising coupled with a political crisis, an explosion, political instability and is currently struggling with its most severe economic crisis in history. For years, Lebanon was considered a relatively stable country in the region. Recently the country’s economy has collapsed due to a mix of government malpractice, economic instability and international interference. The existing crises were compounded in 2020 by the 4th of August explosion which caused hundreds to lose lives, thousands of injuries, and 300 000 people to lose their homes. In a country struggling to rebuild and survive the multiple crises, everyday products have tripled in price in the last year, and vulnerable groups are now finding everyday necessities unaffordable. It is in this ever worsening context that we are seeking to address the issue of a valid study of period poverty. What is Period Poverty? If you use the toilet in a public area or a coffee shop you will very likely find toilet paper available as this is considered an essential product... Then why are period products not equally available...? Around the world periods remain a taboo topic. Period products are still taxed as luxury products in many countries, blood is blue on period adverts on the television and periods are seen as a personal issue and not a collective one. All of these factors contribute directly to shame and stigma around menstruation, meaning that most women will grow up feeling silenced about their bodies and cycles. A direct consequence of this is period poverty. While there is no official definition of period poverty, at Jeyetna we define it as: The lack of access to period products and different options The lack of access to a private and clean bathroom The lack of access to a safe space / a person to talk about it The lack of access to education and knowledge about menstruation. Period poverty affects both women’s physical and mental health! The lack of education on women’s health, causes extreme problems like women missing opportunities such as going to school or to work, serious health issues due to lack of access to clean bathroom and products or avoiding seeking medical care for small issues that then become more severe, leading to illness, depression, fear, and in some extreme cases suicide. Many women and people who menstruate will live all their lives with shame and misunderstanding about their own bodies. Access to period care is a human right and period poverty, a product of social injustice. Our events Our aim is to shift the topic of periods from a personal issue to a collective one. By starting conversations, redefining menstruation, and approaching periods in a holistic and environmentally friendly way, we aim to normalize periods and make menstrual care accessible to all. Jeyetna provides solutions through education, sustainability (through the provision of reusable products that last up to 15 years) and the creation of safe spaces for participants to share a collective period experience. We tackle period poverty by organizing events that consist of: The screening of the documentary directed by Evelina Llewellyn (co-founder of Jeyetna). Each screening is followed by a Q&A in the shape of a safe space where participants reflect on the content and share their experience, guided by a Jeyetna discussion mediator. An awareness session on periods and period products, presenting reusable and disposable options (reusable pads, panties, menstrual cups, tampons and pads) and answering any questions or concerns. Product distribution: each of the participants is offered 2 products of their choice, in addition to a hot water bottle to help with period pain. Additional activities: as of March 2022, we collaborate with Koun, an NGO giving yoga classes to marginalized communities, teaching the participants stretching and massage techniques to relieve period pain in a sustainable way. A Collective mission Since July 2021 Jeyetna has organised 27 events in 8 different regions distributing products to 755 women and 355 girls. We have organised 5 online period discussion circles and screened the documentary three times in France in collaboration with Cinema la Clef, les Valises pour Beyrouth and Règles Elementaires. We have collaborated with many local NGOs and non-profit (Wing woman Lebanon, Koun NGO, RDFL, Haven for Artists, Marsa, Jeyetik, Wish x AUBMC, Gesture from the Heart, Basket beats borders, Nation Station, Toofoola, Fe-Male, WPA, RDFL) and international ones (UNDP, Les valises pour Beyrouth, Regles Elementaires, and Ranute, Smoon and Moonz). Jeyetna has featured in many medias such as L’Orient-le-Jour, BBC Arabic, The Independent, Mademoiselle, The New Arab, TV5Monde, The New humanitarian, MTV, Noovo, The Daily Star, Yourmiddleeast, Beirut City Guide, OHCHR and The World Sucks. We have also intervened at a MEPI-TLS gender workshop at the American University of Beirut. In June 2022 Jeyetna was invited as Youth Representative to open the first ever panel on menstrual hygiene management in the context of the United Nations 50th Human rights council in Geneva. Our target population We provide content for all people that menstruate in Lebanon regardless of their legal status. We strive to be as inclusive as possible and have organized specific events for under-represented communities (migrant workers, refugees, and the LGBTQ+ community). Jeyetna team and structure Our collective is composed of 90% of young Lebanese women and queer folks under 30. In a highly centralised country, we work towards building a network of Jeyetna advocates across regions in their own community, Our structure is flexible, and we welcome any initiative that could make our fight against period poverty more holistic and comprehensive. We prioritize partnerships with small women-led initiatives. We need your support! All in all, in a country on the edge of economic collapse, a pandemic, political instability, and conflict, life for women and people who menstruate is challenged by constant hardship. On top of this, no one should have to choose between milk for her baby or pads for her periods. No one should have to miss a day's work because she cannot afford products. No one should have to live in shame and misunderstanding about her own body. But this can be changed. By opening this discussion, we can break the silence! PERIOD. As the crisis worsens, our activity is needed more than ever. Our team of 10 are working around the clock to ensure that our products and events reach as many women as possible. We are seeing immediate results from our on-ground actions, but we are also witnessing the ever growing demand and need for our work. To ensure our future events and actions we need your support! Any donation is highly appreciated. With $5 you donate 1 hot water bottle: a sustainable solution for period pain With $9 you donate 1 set of 2 reusable cups. Each woman recieves 2 sizes (1 smaller size for lighter moments of the flow or spotting & 1 for the heavier part of her period) ensuring up to 10 years of menstrual independance for 1 woman. With $20 you donate 1 pack of reusable pads (enough for 1 cycle for 1 woman) that are made in Lebanon by the association Wing Woman Lebanon. Prices of the pads include the salaries of the women who make them, who are palestinian refugees from Shatila. With $75 you cover 1 Jeyetna awareness session for women in need. Each session lasts 2 hours and are given by young female and queer activists in Lebanon. With $100, 10 women are independent in terms of products for up to 15 years. 10 reusable menstrual cups can be purchased and then distributed during our events. Each woman recieves 2 sizes (1 smaller size for lighter moments of the flow or spotting & 1 for the heavier part of her period) ensuring up to 15 years of menstrual independance for 10 women With $600 you buy 30 reusable pads packs that are made in Lebanon by the association Wing Woman Lebanon. Prices of the pads include the salaries of the women who make them, who are palestinian refugees from Shatila.- With $3000 you ensure 1 event for 30 women which includes the screening of the documentary and discussion circle, an awareness session, reusable and disposable product ditribution, a yoga session, distribution of hot water bottles, and catering. Evelina Llewellyn et Vanessa Zammar, in the name of the Jeyetna team.