Menstruation matters, and it matters for the realization of human rights. Menstrual stigma has profound effects on the rights to health, education, work, and participation in public life, among others. As menstruation is gaining increasing attention, many organizations have adopted the framing of human rights, which holds the promise of addressing menstrual stigma. Dr Winkler's presentation critically assesses the menstrual movement and its employment of human rights, examining the promises, pitfalls, and renewed potential of human rights.
Many current efforts at the global level are at risk of instrumentalization, tokenism, and reductionism. However, the menstrual movement is not monolithic, and many grassroots initiatives employ a broader and more nuanced understanding of human rights. Combined with normative arguments, this allows re-envisioning human rights in the menstrual movement (from below) to address gender injustices. At a conceptual level, Dr Winkler's work is embedded in critiques of the human rights ‘enterprise’ as risking to lose legitimacy and seeks to contribute to the emergence of a stronger human rights movement that bridges the local and the global.
