“I panicked and broke into tears!,” says one of our menstruators Payal Tak, narrating her experience on her first period as part of our ongoing campaign #myfirstperiod, which aims to break the stigma around menstruation by initiating a conversation surrounding it.
In the last few years, we have found people becoming more vocal about periods and working together to end the stigmas attached to them. There have been movies, commercials, campaigns and movements by several NGOs and celebrities trying to make it less of a taboo and more of a normal monthly affair. But alas, a lot of stigma still remains!
Menstruation or period is still referred to as “that time of the month” by many of us. We are still not quite comfortable conversing on the subject and refer to menstruation in code words, and not using the biological or common name for it. Periods still remains a hush-hush subject.
Periods are still not felt like a reason enough to take leave from work or school, and are often covered up with other health reasons such as cold, cough, fever and stomach ache. However, we all know that periods can make one feel unwell and uncomfortable just like any other health issues.
In many parts of the country, a young menstruator is unaware of the purpose and aftermath of menstruation. A report titled Spot On, published in 2014 by an NGO named Dasra highlighted that 70% of the mothers consider menstruation ‘dirty’. According to Supriya Khanna of the Indian Council for Medical Research,
“Women across India grow up remaining unaware of the real reasons for menstruation and the importance of menstrual hygiene. The taboo surrounding menstruation remains a part of their growing up and continues with their daughters. Hence, the lack of awareness is carried forward via generations in India.”
If the mother, who is mostly the first contact and source of information for a young menstruator, herself believes periods to be a matter of shame, then the barriers of taboo around menstruation can never get broken.
Another significant issue is that young menstruators are found to drop out of school due to reasons, viz. lack of accessibility to basic menstrual hygiene products and dilapidated or no toilets at all. In a country such as ours, where illiteracy is already a major issue, these reasons of drop outs further add to illiteracy. It is highly problematic, because dropping out of the school generally leads to early marriage, followed by ill-informed and early pregnancy in women, leading to a myriad of other problems.
Not entering the kitchen, not touching holy books or not worshiping while menstruating are some of the common practices still believed and practiced by many in our country. A lot of dietary restrictions like avoiding sour foods (curd, tamarind and pickles) are also imposed on menstruators in some parts of the country. Also, exercising is not allowed for menstruators, considering it will aggravate menstrual cramps. All in all, menstruation is considered impure and when on their menstruation, people are not allowed to do many such things that they normally do. Whereas, as long as basic hygiene standards are adhered to during periods, there is no other scientific reason to follow any such restrictions.
Meenakshi Sharma, Coordinator for Menstrual Hygiene Management, WASH Alliance, has rightly quoted,
“The problems with menstruation in India are that they are similar to a chain of command, related to each other. There is no awareness on menstruation, hence it is considered dirty. Being a ‘dirty’ occurrence, a menstruating girl in rural regions is isolated or forced to drop out of school as unlike urban areas, access to sanitary napkins there is low. This cycle is handed over from mother to daughter, but the taboo on menstruation remains.”
A young menstruator gets caught up with all the cultural and social restrictions associated with menstruation. A lot of such practices do not hold any scientific significance, yet are followed by women due to either not being equipped with enough knowledge on the subject or simply being afraid to hurt the cultural sentiments, considering themselves to be keepers of age-old customs.
Such myths around menstruation still linger in our society, owing to many reasons, with lack of education around the topic being the prominent one. Hence, the need arises to talk about menstruation openly, and educate the masses on what is menstruation and why it is normal. Menstruation, or period, is normal vaginal bleeding that occurs due to shedding of the inner lining of uterus every month, and in turn, discharges blood and mucosal through the vagina.
The rise and fall of hormones lead to the occurrence of the menstrual cycle. As a result, an egg grows in the ovary and gets released into the uterus on the 14th day of the cycle. The uterus, on the other hand, prepares for implantation of the egg by thickening its lining, which is meant to provide nutrients to the embryo after its implantation. If pregnancy does not occur, the uterus sheds this lining, which gets released through the vagina. This entire process is known as menstruation.
It is the silence and shame that dominates the knowledge on menstruation. This impacts the emotional and physical health of many women in our country.
Due to low menstrual hygiene and scarce availability of menstrual hygiene products like sanitary pads, a lot of women in rural and semi-urban areas still use old cloth, sand, old socks, ash, hay and such other materials to absorb menstrual blood, due to which 70% of them suffer from Reproductive Tract Infections and other related health issues.
The problem doesn’t end here. Sanitary napkins, the basic menstrual hygiene product used in our country, is primarily made of plastic, and disposing them is a major threat to the environment. Alternatives to these pads include eco-friendly sanitary pads, eco-friendly tampons and menstrual cups. Hence, the need arises to speak up about not only menstrual hygiene, but also eco-friendly menstrual hygiene.
Another problem that menstruators in our country face is imposition of tax on all menstrual hygiene products. The government cites them as non-essential items, hence making them costlier and less accessible. It is quite evident that we need to work on the provision of menstrual hygiene products and educate menstruators about menstrual hygiene to reduce health issues occurring due to unhygienic conditions during menstruation, rather than creating a stigma around it.
Not all menstruators are women and not all women menstruate. Menstruation should not be looked at as a boon for reproduction, which should be a choice for women, not an imposition. There are many women who don’t bleed and this should not be seen as a reason to treat them inferior to the women who menstruate. Many trans men and non-binary individuals also menstruate. When the taboo around menstruation is making life difficult for women, imagine the stigma menstruating trans men and other non-binary individuals must have to go through.
We at Spread Love And Peace (SLAP) work towards de-stigmatising periods and are inclusively working with menstruators in reaching the goal.
The members of SLAP, or Dosts of SLAP, as we like to call them, have been actively participating in campaigns viz. Period in Pandemic, #myfirstperiod, #mythsinmenstruation and Red Spot Campaign, all aimed at shaking and breaking the stigmas in and around menstruation. Be it lack of accessibility of menstrual hygiene products or hardships faced by young menstruators during their first period, these campaigns are all designed to run with a one-point focus — of making menstruation a bit more easier affair for all menstruators.
SLAP not only conducts campaigns, but also invites guest speakers working in similar areas to share their insights, gathered by the noble work they have been doing.
#DOT is another campaign in which SLAP invites artists, making their art a medium to talk about menstruation. The campaign is held every year during the month of May as a part of celebrating Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28th of May.
SLAP has also been actively organising interactive sessions for menstruators of all age and working towards collecting donations and distribution of menstrual hygiene products to menstruators in need. As the saying goes, Unity is Strength, we urge all menstruators to come forward, join hands with us and share their experience. Hopefully, together we will be able to make a difference.
A lot of noise has been made and a lot of voices heard. But we have a long way to go. We need to bridge the gap between stigma and acceptance to such a level that people are willing to fund small-scale organisations, initiatives and NGOs working in this regard. We are struggling in this criteria too and need your love and support to help us help you to change lives.
Here are the links of our previous and ongoing programs:
Period in Pandemic in collaboration with Period- Start of Story
#MythsInMenstruation in collaboration with Disha Sahu
Red Spot Campaign in collaboration with Sachhi Saheli
Session on menstruation, taboos and myths around it among young menstruators in Sonapur, Assam
Webinar with three guest speakers: Menstrual Hygiene Day Celebration
Café Conversation on Sustainable Menstruation at The Zouq, Guwahti by Kabita Ghimire on Periods Day
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