Announcing Our Fall 2025 Fellow: Maryam Jilani
Fellow Maryam Jilani and the International Journal of Social Sciences Bulletin
At De Tenebris, we believe fellowships should lead somewhere real—toward deeper inquiry, sharper thinking, and work that meaningfully enters public discourse. This fall, we are proud to share one such outcome.
We are excited to announce that Maryam Jilani, a Fall 2025 De Tenebris Fellow, has published her fellowship research in the International Journal of Social Science Bulletin. Her paper, completed during her time at De Tenebris, represents the culmination of months of rigorous research, mentorship, and sustained engagement with one of the most overlooked intersections in public policy: menstrual health, women’s mobility, and inclusion.
Research Rooted in Lived Reality
Maryam’s paper, “A Discourse on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Policymaking: Navigating Women’s Mobility and Inclusivity in Pakistan,” critically examines national menstrual hygiene policies implemented between 2018 and 2020. Rather than treating menstrual health as a purely biological or technical issue, the research reframes it as a deeply social and political question—one shaped by mobility, access, labor, and representation.
Her work asks a deceptively simple but powerful question: How can policies succeed if they fail to account for how women actually live, move, and participate in public life?
Through qualitative thematic analysis, Maryam demonstrates that many menstrual hygiene policies in Pakistan are designed without sufficient consideration of women’s mobility constraints, rural-urban divides, informal labor participation, and political invisibility. As a result, policies often fail to reach the very populations they are meant to serve.
Fellowship, Mentorship, and Method
This research was conducted during Maryam’s Fall 2025 fellowship at De Tenebris, under the mentorship of Adwoa Birago Oware-Mintah. The fellowship period allowed Maryam to deepen her analytical framework, strengthen the sociological grounding of her work, and develop the paper to a publishable standard.
Mentorship played a central role in shaping the project—not only in refining methodology and argumentation, but in encouraging a broader policy lens that situates menstrual health within questions of governance, equity, and structural inclusion. The result is a paper that speaks not only to scholars of gender and health, but also to policymakers, development practitioners, and advocates working across South Asia and beyond.
Why This Work Matters
Menstrual hygiene management is frequently discussed in terms of products, awareness campaigns, or school-based interventions. Maryam’s work challenges this narrow framing. She shows that without addressing deeper structural barriers—such as unsafe transportation systems, women’s exclusion from policymaking, and limited access to education and digital infrastructure—policy interventions remain incomplete.
Her findings underscore a central insight: women’s mobility and inclusivity are not secondary considerations; they are prerequisites for effective policy implementation.
By connecting menstrual health policy to women’s labor participation, political representation, and access to public space, the paper contributes a much-needed sociological perspective to an area too often treated as a technical health issue.
A Fellowship Outcome We’re Proud Of
Maryam Jilani’s publication reflects what the De Tenebris fellowship is designed to support: original research, grounded in lived realities, developed through mentorship, and brought into the public academic record.
We are incredibly proud of Maryam’s work and grateful to her mentor, Adwoa Birago Oware-Mintah, for her guidance throughout the fellowship. This publication stands as a testament to what emerging scholars can achieve when given time, trust, and intellectual support.
We congratulate Maryam on this achievement and look forward to seeing how her research continues to shape conversations around gender, health, and inclusive policymaking.
We are excited to announce that Maryam Jilani, a Fall 2025 De Tenebris Fellow, has published her fellowship research in the International Journal of Social Science Bulletin. Her paper, completed during her time at De Tenebris, represents the culmination of months of rigorous research, mentorship, and sustained engagement with one of the most overlooked intersections in public policy: menstrual health, women’s mobility, and inclusion.
Research Rooted in Lived Reality
Maryam’s paper, “A Discourse on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Policymaking: Navigating Women’s Mobility and Inclusivity in Pakistan,” critically examines national menstrual hygiene policies implemented between 2018 and 2020. Rather than treating menstrual health as a purely biological or technical issue, the research reframes it as a deeply social and political question—one shaped by mobility, access, labor, and representation.
Her work asks a deceptively simple but powerful question: How can policies succeed if they fail to account for how women actually live, move, and participate in public life?
Through qualitative thematic analysis, Maryam demonstrates that many menstrual hygiene policies in Pakistan are designed without sufficient consideration of women’s mobility constraints, rural-urban divides, informal labor participation, and political invisibility. As a result, policies often fail to reach the very populations they are meant to serve.
Fellowship, Mentorship, and Method
This research was conducted during Maryam’s Fall 2025 fellowship at De Tenebris, under the mentorship of Adwoa Birago Oware-Mintah. The fellowship period allowed Maryam to deepen her analytical framework, strengthen the sociological grounding of her work, and develop the paper to a publishable standard.
Mentorship played a central role in shaping the project—not only in refining methodology and argumentation, but in encouraging a broader policy lens that situates menstrual health within questions of governance, equity, and structural inclusion. The result is a paper that speaks not only to scholars of gender and health, but also to policymakers, development practitioners, and advocates working across South Asia and beyond.
Why This Work Matters
Menstrual hygiene management is frequently discussed in terms of products, awareness campaigns, or school-based interventions. Maryam’s work challenges this narrow framing. She shows that without addressing deeper structural barriers—such as unsafe transportation systems, women’s exclusion from policymaking, and limited access to education and digital infrastructure—policy interventions remain incomplete.
Her findings underscore a central insight: women’s mobility and inclusivity are not secondary considerations; they are prerequisites for effective policy implementation.
By connecting menstrual health policy to women’s labor participation, political representation, and access to public space, the paper contributes a much-needed sociological perspective to an area too often treated as a technical health issue.
A Fellowship Outcome We’re Proud Of
Maryam Jilani’s publication reflects what the De Tenebris fellowship is designed to support: original research, grounded in lived realities, developed through mentorship, and brought into the public academic record.
We are incredibly proud of Maryam’s work and grateful to her mentor, Adwoa Birago Oware-Mintah, for her guidance throughout the fellowship. This publication stands as a testament to what emerging scholars can achieve when given time, trust, and intellectual support.
We congratulate Maryam on this achievement and look forward to seeing how her research continues to shape conversations around gender, health, and inclusive policymaking.
