The invention relates to an absorbent article comprising belt members annularly defining a front waist region and a rear waist region, wherein said belt members are provided with waist contractile means biasing said belt members to shrink in a circumferential direction. A liquid-absorbent structure has first and second ends opposed to and spaced from each other wherein an outer surface of the first end overlaps an inner surface of the front belt section to define a first overlapping region and an outer surface of the second end overlaps an inner surface of said belt section to define a second overlapping region, wherein the waist contractile means extend partially across at least one of the first overlapping region and said second overlapping region and the liquid-absorbent structure is joined to the belt members at least in the first overlapping region or the second overlapping regions by means of joint zones and arranged intermittently in the circumferential direction and a first joint-free zones defined between each pair of adjacent the joint zones define vent channels allowing said crotch region to fluid-communicate with the front and rear waist regions.
