I heard the reply of IAS and the managing director of the women & child welfare department Harjot Kaur Bamhrah to a student that we should not demand the government to provide us with sanitary pads. The reply was quite unsatisfactory because we all are aware of the conditions of India, where approx 70% of the population lives in rural areas. Where they are even struggling with basic needs and all. And while knowing this situation, this kind of statement and comparison between sanitary pad and condoms were totally baseless.
As we know, the conditions of the Indian rural area are worst they don’t even have a fixed source of income and cultural taboos in this situation; spending money on pads and all are tough for them. On the other hand, the experiences of their mothers and older females of the family forced them to use other things which are chipper and easy to access like old clothes, ash, newspaper, dried leaves, etc. If the unclear cloth is reused, it increases exposure to multiple local infections and low fertility. According to the latest National Family Survey report (NFHS), experts attribute it to a lack of awareness and taboo existing around menstruation. And approx 23 million girls drop out of their schooling after they start menstruation.
According to experts, in India, 64 per cent of women use sanitary napkins, 50 per cent of women use cloth and 15 per cent use locally prepared napkins. Overall, 78 per cent of women in this age group use a hygienic method of menstrual protection.
On exposure to infections due to unhygienic menstrual practices, Dr Astha Dayal of the obstetrics and gynaecology department at the CK Birla hospital Gurugram said, “Many studies have shown reproductive tract infections like bacterial vaginosis os urinary tract infections (UTI) could occur which eventually become pelvic infections”. “As these infections can travel up to the pelvis, they can cause difficulties in getting pregnant or pregnancy complications like preterm labour (resulting in premature birth). ” She said besides, poor hygiene can increase cervical cancer risk in long run, as one if the risk factors for this cancer is poor local hygiene. According to NFHS report women with 12 or more year of schooling are more than twice as likely to be using a hygienic method as women with no schooling. Women in the highest wealth quintile are almost twice as likely to use a hygienic method as women in the lowest wealth quintile (95per cent versus 54 per cent). Seventy-three per cent of rural women use a hygienic method of menstrual protection. Compared with 90 per cent of urban women”.
The lowest percentage of women use a hygienic method of menstrual protection in Bihar (59 per cent) and Meghalaya( 65 per cent). According to Poonam Muttreja, Executive director at the Population Foundation of India, women from the lowest wealth quintile are about 3.3 times more likely to use cloth than women from the highest wealth quintile. Thus, social background often determines access to proper menstrual hygiene.
The taboo around speaking about periods discourages women from accessing them. Parents would think it is a useless expense, so there needs to be counselling of the parents also that there is a health requirement for girls. Improving menstrual hygiene thus requires investment in girls’ education, alongside extensive social and behaviour change communication campaigns to change social norms and behaviour.