Watch: Kenyan politician with 'period stain' goes to parliament. And then...

Orwoba said she was proud to stand up against "period shame". (Image credit: @AfricaFactsZone/Twitter)

A Kenyan politician recently attempted to attend the parliament with an apparent period stain. Gloria Orwoba was dressed in a white suit and trousers with a red stain. The staff at the parliament first tried to dissuade her from entering the chamber, but Orwoba resisted. She was, however, asked to leave parliament mid-session.

Speaking to the BBC after the incident, Orwoba said she was proud to stand up against "period shame". “I think it’s because the first thing that we have been taught is that periods are dirty and shouldn’t be seen. Since I am always advocating against period shame, I thought I should go ahead and walk the talk," she said.

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But when she was in the parliament, Orwoba faced criticism from other politicians -- both men and women -- for being disrespectful.

Senator Tabitha Mutinda asked the speaker to rule on whether Orwoba had adhered to the house's dress code, saying she found it uncomfortable and inappropriate.

"You don't understand if she's on the normal woman cycle or she's faking it, and it is so indecent," the BBC quoted Mutinda as saying. The politician said there was a better way to raise this issue which would have set a good example to young women.

Responding to this, Orowba said she was disappointed to be questioned over "an accident that is natural... I have stained my clothes". "I think I'm dressed as per the standing orders - I'm covered, I have a suit, I have collars, I'm just short of a tie," she said.

A male senator, Enoch Wambua, said, "We have wives and daughters, and they go through these cycles, but it's a matter to be managed personally without exposing it to other people. What Sen Gloria has done to this house is a disgrace, it is a lot of shame to this house. This must not be allowed to happen."

Kenyan Senator, Gloria Orwoba attends a parliamentary session in stained clothes to advocate for free sanitary pads for school girls and female prisoners.

Her colleagues criticized her for wearing the stained clothes in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/SzFNEWQROt

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) February 17, 2023

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But Orowba asserted that her experience had made her understand the discrimination faced by girls in Kenya when they are on their period. "We have a girl who killed herself because of the same issue that I'm going through, and now I understand because it is the women who are trying to make this a crime, she said"

Orwoba has been campaigning for free sanitary towel provision and is planning to introduce a bill in the coming months. After the incident, she has also become the subject of a vicious online hate campaign.

Kenya has seen extreme incidents of period shaming. In 2019, a 14-year-old girl killed herself after a teacher reportedly shamed her when she stained her uniform on her first period. Girls in he country are also known to skip school when menstruating.

Read more: Women can take paid leave for period pain in these countries