Gloria Orwoba

Gloria Orwoba (born 25 May 1986) is a Kenyan politician who has served as a nominated Senator representing women in the Senate of Kenya since 2022. In 2023, she received international press attention when an apparent blood stain on her trousers caused by menstruation prompted the Senate President to ask her to leave the chamber.

Quotes

• Since I am always advocating against period shame, I thought I should go ahead and walk the talk.
  • Gloria Orwoba said (BBC, February 15, 2023).

• I instigated the conversation around period shame and period stigma with men and boys asserting further that, period shaming starts with the man and the boy, because they have been brought up to believe that if a woman happens to have a stain, it’s an appropriate response to laugh at, or castigate her – and then the woman has been taught that they need to go into hiding. That’s the unlearning that we need to do.
  • [1]
• Since I am always advocating against period shame, I thought I should go ahead and walk the talk.
  • [2]
• The first thing that we have been taught is that periods are dirty and shouldn’t be seen.
  • [3]
• I long for the day when accidental period stains will be seen as normal, not shameful. Women and girls are using up valuable sanitary pads by wearing them as a precaution out of anxiety.
  • [4]
• That’s a whole pack that you’ve wasted because of the fear of staining your clothes.
  • [5]
• We need to normalize periods.
  • [6]
• I have never understood why menstruation is spoken of like a secret. She recalled being excited as a teenager to finally have her first period after being the last among her peers to get the mark of womanhood.
  • [7]
• My attitude toward menstruation since then has been open.
  • [8]
• I have warned my teenage son to never shame a girl for having her period.
  • [9]