Period Poverty in India
By: Nithya Raghunath
Published: March 21, 2021
Prejudice against menstruators is commonplace in India, where periods have long been taboo and considered dishonorable. Those who menstruate are ostracized from basic activities. The social stigma around menstruation surpasses socioeconomic class, caste, and gender. Because of the lack of conversation around menstruation, 71% of adolescent girls in India are unaware of menstruation until they get it themselves. The entrenchment of everyday religious dogmatism establishes cultural shame around menstruation as a social norm. An average of more than 40% of students in India miss school as a consequence of social stigma, embarrassment, and the inaccessibility of products.
According to Global Citizen, period poverty can be defined as, “the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, handwashing facilities, and/or waste management.” According to a report by the Indian Ministry of Health, only 12% of menstruators have access to proper period products. The other 88% are dependent on unsafe materials, such as rags, cloths, hay, sand, and ash out of desperation. This can expose them to communicable diseases, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), vaginosis, skin irritation, vaginal itching, and more.
The issue of period poverty in India is being addressed by advocacy groups. For example, the ‘Swachh Bharat: Swachh Vidyalay’ campaign was introduced in 2014, which ensures that every school in India has a functional and maintained ‘WASH’ facility. These facilities include the availability of soap, a private space for changing, water for washing, and disposal facilities for menstrual products. Additionally, the government launched 100% oxy-biodegradable sanitary napkins at a low cost; however, this initiative has not been able to initiate nationwide awareness.
Menstrual health is not just a women’s issue, as more than 2.9 billion people globally lack access to basic sanitation services. There is a strong restriction among men to learn about these issues as a consequence of the deeply entrenched social stigma. Educating boys and girls at a young age about menstruation promotes healthy habits and breaks the stigma around the natural process. It is just as crucial to include transgendered men and non-binary menstruators in this conversation, as this issue transcends gender.
As Sanjay Wijeskera, former UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene once said, “Meeting the hygiene needs of all adolescent girls is a fundamental issue of human rights, dignity, and public health.”
Blog Sources: BBC.com, feminisminindia.com, globalcitizen.org
Image Source: scmp.com