Absorbent article having a protected fastening system

An absorbent article comprising:

• an absorbent assembly including a front waist region, a back waist region, and a crotch region extending longitudinally between and interconnecting the front and back waist regions, a liquid permeable bodyside liner for facing a wearer, an outer cover with a garment-facing surface facing away from the wearer, and an absorbent body disposed between the bodyside liner and outer cover;
• a pair of ears extending transversely outward from the opposite sides of the absorbent assembly in the back waist region, each of the ears comprising a loop fastening component;
• a pair of spaced-apart hook fastening components disposed on the outer cover in the front waist region of the absorbent assembly, each of the hook fastening components being selectively engageable with a respective one of the loop fastening components in a wear configuration of the article;
• and
• a nonwoven shield coupled to the garment-facing surface of the outer cover, wherein the shield has an aperture therethrough,
• wherein each hook fastening component includes a hook material patch comprising a plurality of hooks and a hook material edge, wherein the hook material patch is disposed between the outer cover and the shield such that at least a portion of the plurality of hooks is accessible through the aperture, and such that a portion of the shield adjacent the aperture covers the hook material edge.

An absorbent article comprising:

• an absorbent assembly including a front waist region, a back waist region, and a crotch region extending longitudinally between and interconnecting the front and back waist regions, a liquid permeable bodyside liner for facing a wearer, an outer cover with a garment-facing surface facing away from the wearer, and an absorbent body disposed between the bodyside liner and outer cover;
• a pair of ears extending transversely outward from the opposite sides of the absorbent assembly in the back waist region, each of the ears comprising a loop fastening component;
• a pair of spaced-apart hook fastening components disposed on the outer cover in the front waist region of the absorbent assembly, each of the hook fastening components being selectively engageable with a respective one of the loop fastening components in a wear configuration of the article;
• and
• a nonwoven shield coupled to the garment-facing surface of the outer cover, wherein the shield has two curvilinear apertures therethrough,
• wherein each hook fastening component includes a hook material patch comprising
• a base layer having a hook surface, a non-hook surface opposite the hook surface, and base layer edges therebetween, and
• a plurality of hooks affixed to the hook surface, wherein the hook material patch is disposed between the outer cover and the shield such that at least a portion of the plurality of hooks is accessible through an aperture, and such that at least a portion of the base layer edges is covered by the shield.