“Glad her words don’t shed blood!” – Ruftaz Raj
In India, a lot of girls miss school days for numerous reasons, and today, I will be talking about that one reason which we don’t give much significance to – the trepidation of stains and period shaming. I will be talking about the current condition of India’s ‘Period Poverty’ which is frequently explained as a lack of access to the menstrual edification as well as sanitary products. You will be surprised to know that this condition is prevalent in India, along with the other countries of the world, and is a matter that alarms half the population of the human race today.
Menstruation is an innate and healthy process occurring in girls and women of reproductive age, where the uterus discards blood and tissues through the vagina.THAT’S IT! Sounds quite simple… doesn’t it? However, unfortunately, it’s NOT! Sadly, it is a taboo and is being considered as impure or thwarting in our society and there are a number of fables regarding it. Generally, May 28th is observed as Menstrual Hygiene Day internationally.
You Decide Whether These Are Taboos Or Threats To Human Rights:
- In some areas, during menstruation, women are forbidden from participating in usual activities are not allowed to do household work like cooking, for a period of 3 nights.
- Do you know only 12% of India’s 355 million menstruating women use sanitary napkins? 88% of women use unsanitized cloth, ashes and husk sand which leads to a number of health risks.
- Even today, buying sanitary napkins for women can be embarrassing and the medical stores or the grocery stores pack them in a wrapper and people are OK with it! Ironically, in Assam, Guwahati, people generally celebrate this natural process majestically through the Hindu Goddess Kamakhya (The Bleeding Goddess).
- Yes, in today’s 21st century too, everyone knows about it but no one is allowed to talk about it publicly. Films are being made on this, numerous campaigns are going on but the fact is that people do hesitate to utter this word in front of others.
- In some cases, women are not permitted to water plants or sleep in the same bed as their husbands while they are menstruating…just imagine. Well, the weirdest of all these taboos is the “don’t touch the pickles during periods” theory which is nonsensical and illogical.
- Many Indian women still believe that they cannot visit a place of worship during their period.
There are many more social taboos but I think these above-mentioned ones are harrowing enough.
Here’s Why Period Poverty Is Not Just A Woman’s Issue
- For low-income families, the price of different sanitary pads makes them inaccessible frequently, because of the towering cost of sanitation facilities.
- In India, 70 percent of all reproductive diseases are caused by different kinds of pitiable menstrual hygiene situations. Researchers estimate that 71 percent of girls in India have no awareness about menstrual well-being until after their first period.
- Surprisingly, in 2017, the Indian government labelled menstrual products as luxury goods but in July of 2018, the Indian government removed the tax, to make the sanitary products more accessible to everyone.
Apart from the good news of the removal of taxes, there are a lot of positive steps that have been taken to address the issues of period poverty. Different types of nonprofit organisations are fighting for menstrual correspondence through menstrual education, free distribution of sanitary products and government sponsorship and so on; like the Sikun Relief Foundation which is continuously working on menstrual health and sanitisation in different places, especially in the disaster-prone areas.
What I think is that the different kinds of menstrual artefacts must also be harmless, helpful and adequate to all the women and girls who use them; like the disposable and reusable sanitary napkins, disposable tampons, and menstrual cups, clean and porous fabrics like the rags or underwear. Girls and women should also be educated about premenstrual syndrome (PMS), like changes in desire for food, backaches, acne, bloating, headaches, sadness, feelings of sorrow, nervousness or anxiety, bad temper, sweating, constipation or diarrhoea, nuisance concentrating, insomnia, tiredness and many more which differ from person to person.