How menstrual taboos are affecting health and hygiene in India
The Supreme Court recently questioned the ban on entry into
the Sabarimala Temple of women who are in the menstruating age. This was in
connection with a PIL that had been filed by the Indian Young Lawyers
Association against the gender inequality in the temple, where women between
the ages of 10 and 50 are banned from entry. While the verdict of the case is
yet to be out, it points to a much larger issue – that of taboos associated
with menstruation and how these affect women’s health and hygiene, adversely.
In India, there has been a culture of shame and silence
associated with menstruation, since long. While, back in school, during a
presentation done by a sanitary napkin manufacturer, the boys were asked to
leave the room, and the girls could not keep from giggling throughout the
entire presentation, shopkeepers still wrap sanitary napkin packs in brown bags
or newspapers, because of the shame associated with being seen carrying a bag
of sanitary napkins. This is the attitude that we carry for one of nature’s
most natural processes.
Rather than celebrate the fact that the process is one of
the most vital aspects to the existence of human beings, in many places in the
country - primarily the rural areas - menstruating girls and women are looked
upon as untouchables. They are not allowed to take part in the daily household
affairs and are made to sit away from the family. Cultural beliefs of impurity
restrict girls and women from participating in religious rituals during their
periods.
They are also not allowed to touch water or pickles, as it is believed
that the pickle will get spoiled if they do – to a large extent, the basic
right of leading a normal life is taken away from them during this period. And
these taboos are not just restricted to the villages of India - there are still
many families in the cities in which such customs are followed. A case in point
is a friend who was forced to leave her house during a puja, as she was
menstruating, and this would have made the ritual ‘impure’. She stayed at her
friend’s place until the rituals were completed.
How taboos get in the way of hygiene
Since menstruation is looked upon as a taboo subject in most
Indian societies, it is rarely spoken about. And because of this, and the lack
of proper sanitation facilities, health and hygiene take a back seat. According
to studies done by the Geneva-based Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative
Council (WSSCC), in India at least 23 percent of girls leave school once they
start menstruating, or miss five days of school during each monthly menstrual
period because of the lack of proper toilets.
According to another survey done by AC Nielsen and Plan
India, out of a total of 355 million women who are in the menstruating age,
only 12 percent use sanitary napkins. Around 88 percent of women, especially
from the rural areas of the country, still use rags, leaves, or even sand and
ash during their periods, as they do not have access to affordable sanitary
napkins, and because of the stigma attached to buying them. In some instances,
women and girls are not allowed to take bath for the first two days of their
menstrual cycle.
Unfortunately, these women and their family members are unaware
of the serious health related problems that arise due to lack of hygiene during
menstruation. Unhygienic menstrual practices have been known to increase
chances of Reproductive Tract Infections, fungal infections, Pelvic
Inflammatory Diseases, cervical cancer, and, in some cases, infertility as
well.
Thankfully, though, attitudes are changing slowly, as more
people are actively trying to remove the stigma that is associated with the
process, and are creating awareness about the need for hygienic practices. While some organisations such as Goonj are running campaigns
to educate people about menstrual hygiene and care, and making cheap sanitary
napkins accessible to a larger number of people, others, such as Menstrupedia,
founded by a team of four people - Aditi Gupta, Tuhin Paul, Rajat Mittal and Dr
Mahadeo Bhide - are addressing the issue of menstruation in a friendly and
interesting manner - through cartoons, blogs and videos.
The Sabarimala temple
ban issue led Nikita Azad, a student, to launch the #Happy to Bleed campaign as
a mark of protest against the discrimination, and many young women across the
country have taken to social media to support the campaign and speak out
against taboos.
And it is not just the women who are helping bring about a
change - 52 year old social entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganathan from
Coimbatore is the brain behind a machine that makes low cost sanitary pads for
women and girls from the rural areas.
Another social entrepreneur, Kailash
Brijwasi, a 52-year-old from Rajasthan, started Uger, a company that
manufactures affordable cotton sanitary napkins that can be washed and reused.
While it’s heartening to see that more people are taking up
the cause and spreading awareness, a lot more has to be done to get the country
rid of the social and cultural stigma associated with menstruation - only then
can we ensure a healthy and safe woman population.
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