Doctoral thesis defense in Sociology and Anthropology of health : Very honorable mention with congratulations from the jury for Lyndha Bernice Gbèbioho

”Xidevo, a socio-anthropological approach to periods and the experience of menstruators in Akpro-Missérêtê”, it is this research subject which conferred the title of Doctor on Lyndha Bernice Mèdéssè Gbèbioho. The researcher defended her thesis in Sociology-Anthropology, specialty Sociology and Anthropology of Health on Friday 27 September 2024 in the conference room of the multidisciplinary doctoral school ”Space, Cultures and Development” from the University of Abomey-Calavi.

In his thesis, the socio anthropologist has lifted the veil on the sociocultural norms and practices to which women are subject in the commune of Akpro-Missérété, a region of the Ouémé department, in the south-east of Benin. A work produced after years of research by Lyndha Bernice Mèdéssè Gbèbioho on the representations and social logics associated with periods and the experiences of girls and women in Akpro-Missérété. From these conclusions, a few key points emerge. At first glance, Akpro-Missérété is an environment with strong cultural roots where cultural practices and sociocultural norms that govern menstruation remain current. According to the data collected, menstruating women see their daily lives turned upside down. They must withdraw from the marital bed and even from their economic activities. Access to family compounds and religious spaces is strictly prohibited because female blood flow is qualified as’ “impure” she informs. As well, Do girls and women experience difficulty managing their menstrual hygiene?. According to local beliefs, this state of the woman shows that she is outside the norm, from the house, is located elsewhere or is excluded; which is translated into the concept of Xidevo, you say, or there or mawé in this community. We must then protect ourselves against this danger or to avoid spreading this pollution..

Beyond science

The speeches, myths and religious beliefs surround social representations associated with menstruation. This cyclical fact, says Bernice Gbèbioho, is no longer understood only in its original biological dimension. It is also based on social and cultural conceptions where in Akpro-Missérété, menstruation is referred to by expressions like : Xidèvo, manor, To be.
The prescriptible and prohibitive norms and practices surrounding this phenomenon are the menstrual taboos which guide the behavior of ”menstruated”. They consist of physical or symbolic seclusion, withdrawal from daily activities, the obligation not to reveal menstrual blood. These practices are more accentuated among married women who must use another room or sleep elsewhere.. The applicant describes them in isolation practices, avoidance and delimitation of space. “When we put away the bowls, the effects, the containers somewhere, we are in the process of delimiting the space which is imbued with impurity which qualifies the phenomenon. So, the space there is also impure and you should not go there when you are not in a state of menstruation. There are also practices of purification and control of the female body. Several other prejudices and interpretations, help to manage this phenomenon in both religious spaces, so social, so traditional. Everyone chooses according to their interests to respect or not these socio-cultural norms”, explained Bernice Gbèbioho. Practices that time and universality tend to attenuate these days. However, the weight of tradition means that women, they- same reproduce and perpetuate these ways of doing and thinking, transmitting them from generation to generation. The analysis of women's experiences in relation to the practice of menstrual hygiene made it possible to highlight the conditions in which this hygiene is observed.. But it is clear that girls and women do not have access to the components of MHM such as : drinking water, WASH works, information on menstrual hygiene. Morphological discomforts, particularly painful periods, menstrual irregularity, early menopause are all difficulties that compromise the experience of menstruators. Also note- are we only those- They use traditional treatments offered by resellers on the markets, the hounnons…to relieve themselves. Car, public health policies pay very little attention to it. All this shows the preeminence of taboos around menstruation.

Xidèvo, negative or positive?

According to Bernice Gbèbioho, the reflection carried out did not dwell on a position but showed that both men and women use it to live and protect their social health, their religious practices and social well-being. The impact of the research, she maintains, is firstly located at the level of the thesis defended where it is not positioned as a redresser of wrongs but shows that taboos are practices which allow women and men to guide their conduct or their ways of doing things related to menstruation. For this purpose, advance Bernice Gbèbioho, if women continue to observe them, it’s because they get benefits like protecting themselves, let their bodies rest and prepare for the reproductive period which begins well after the discharge. “We can see the health requests there, religious and also the fear that the entire society, even women experience this phenomenon”. She insisted on communication around this theme by showing that it is not a question of breaking taboos. More, it is necessary to carry out a relevant analysis to bring out these negative aspects to banish and those positive ones which make it possible to regulate society, to organize life in society, to protect the social body and respond to health requests preserving women's health. When we take the practical dimension which is more important, it refers to the needs of women in menstruation.

After consultation, the jury declared the work admissible and awarded the degree of Doctor of the University of Abomey-Calavi in ​​Sociology-Anthropology in the specialty Sociology and Anthropology of Health with very honorable mention with the congratulations of the jury. A jury composed of Abou-Bakari Imorou, full professor (Benign), University of Abomey-Calavi, President, examiners, Tossou Atchrimi, full professor at the University of Lomé, (Togo), Alain Toh, Senior lecturer , Félix Houphouet Boigny University (Ivory Coast), Clarisse Hèdible, full professor, University of Abomey-Calavi (Benign) and Roch Apollinaire Houngnihin, full professor, University of Abomey-Calavi, thesis director. Lyndha Bernice Médèssè Gbèbioho, born on 19 June 1988 in Cotonou in Benin should we mention it.

Arnaud ACAKPO (Coll)