Abstract

As engaged researchers involved in a critical health intervention programme aimed at addressing a number of menstruation-related challenges, we find ourselves being called on to work as activists. Our ability to work alongside community members as activists ensures the success of our public health intervention. However, the fluidity in our understanding of our roles and responsibilities often leaves us in an ethical grey zone relating to consent, anonymity, and confidentiality because of our dual roles as researchers and activists. The boundaries between our relationships with the participants and ourselves as researchers assume relational rather than transactional qualities. Similarly, we have encountered ethical challenges relating to participation and power dynamics which warrant special attention not typically given in traditional ethics review protocols.