“THE RAVEN CLAW OF REDHOOD” – Decoding the wrenching saga of Period Poverty in India.
Introduction
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from mine” ~Audre Lorde.
Menstruation is a natural process, and basically, all women of reproductive age in the workplace go through this cycle every month. It is a natural process that begins in females between the ages of 11 and 14 years old and is one of the signs of the start of puberty among them. In fact, at any one moment, almost one-quarter of the female population would be experiencing this cycle. Menstruation has long been associated with taboos and beliefs that restrict women from many parts of social and cultural life. In India, over 365 million women and girls menstruate, with just 18% of women using menstrual hygiene products. This is due to poverty, a lack of understanding, social taboos, and various other factors. It is not just an economic and social issue but also a fundamental one that must be addressed. If menstruation is natural, why is it viewed as taboo?
What is period poverty?
Period poverty is a worldwide problem, with millions of women and girls suffering and even threatened because they cannot afford to buy period care. Period poverty is defined as a woman’s difficulty buying menstrual hygiene products. Products include more than just sanitary pads, tampons, and menstrual cups. It consists of various other problems, like the cost of medication facilities. Changes in inadequate access to menstruation products and hygiene education have been a serious obstacle to sanitary and unsanitary items such as clothing, toilet paper, rags, etc. The inadequate access to menstruation products and hygiene education has been a severe obstacle in achieving menstrual equity. Cases like shortage of sanitary napkins, washing facilities, and waste management make this a costly issue for every woman. Inadequate access to menstruation products and hygiene education has been a significant impediment to achieving menstrual equity. The cases of not only a shortage of sanitary napkins but also of washing facilities and waste management make this a costly issue. The discussion on period poverty attempts to open a dialogue to reduce stigma and promote basic knowledge of menstruation.
It is also important to remember that ‘not all menstruators are women, and not all women menstruate’ while considering period poverty. There are women all over the world who do not have menstruation because of a variety of medical problems. We must have a discussion regarding menstruation that goes beyond the gender binary. Menstruation is also strongly affected in most third-world nations as a result of malnutrition, and India is no exception.
Period Poverty in India
Due to the lack of resources available, India’s policy of exempting sanitary napkins from service tax didn’t impact both people and the economy enough. As per the study by the Indian Ministry of Health, only 12% of menstruating women in India have access to hygienic sanitary products. The remaining 88%, on the other hand, depend on unhygienic products like rags, cloth, sand, leaves, etc as their only options. This puts them at risk of infectious urogenital diseases like Urinary tract infection (UTI), vaginal itching, bacterial discharge, etc.
As a result of this social shame, isolation, humiliation, and lack of access to products, more than 40% of students in India miss their school when they are menstruating. Avoidance of education because of menstruation shows the country’s lack of adequate sanitary facilities. It is believed that one out of every five girl children drops out of school soon after they begin menstruating. As a result of such inefficient and unhealthy measures, young girls are exposed to various physical health problems at a very young age. It also impacts their sexual, reproductive, and mental health. The increasing privatization of India’s health system has eventually ignored the demands of a large section of the country, especially the menstruating women.
Though the sex education curriculum addresses the difficulties of menstruation, it always reaches the people after they start experiencing the menstrual cycle. As a result of the lack of information on this, around 71% of India is clueless about ‘what a period is’ before they go through it. Even the exclusion of boys from menstrual education creates a sense of confusion among them, which leads to incidents of discrimination based on ‘period shame.’
Another issue for girls is that 40% of government schools in India do not have well-functioning standard toilets, and others don’t have separate toilets for girls and female teachers. Among the incidents of poor sanitation, access to sufficient sanitary products remains a question. The main issue is the lack of menstrual-friendly culture in schools. First of all, the non-availability of female teachers throughout the country, especially in rural areas, seems to be unaddressed, and second is the cultural taboo attached to menstruation restricts the involvement of male teachers in such conversation. In India, menstrual products are not considered as necessary as other products. Thus, it doesn’t come in essentials because of people’s conservative beliefs.
Menstruation and Human Rights
Human rights are those rights that almost every individual enjoys due to their human dignity. We can say menstruation is inextricably linked to human dignity. If women do not have efficient bathing facilities and effective and safe ways of managing their menstrual hygiene, then it is difficult for them to manage their menstruation with dignity. Taunting, isolation, and humiliation due to menstruation also violate the concept of human dignity. Dignity and health fall within the ambit of life and liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Since the Right to Health is a fundamental right to life, it is guaranteed to every Indian citizen under Article 21.
Even gender inequality, extreme poverty, humanitarian crises, and harmful practices transform menstruation into a period of deprivation and humiliation, affecting women’s enjoyment of fundamental human rights. This is also applicable to women and girls, as well as transgender males and nonbinary people who menstruate. Every person at some point in their life faces menstruation-related exclusion, neglect, or discrimination.
Some of the rights which get affected by how women and girls are treated during menstruation
The right to health – Whenever women and girls lack the resources and facilities required to maintain their menstrual health, they also suffer health problems. Menstruation taboo can also discourage women and girls from seeking medical help for menstruation-related illnesses or pain, restricting their right to enjoy the best of health and well-being. The global community has decided to address this and provide safe Water, Sanitation, and Good Hygiene (WASH) for all people by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in September 2015.
The right to non-discrimination and gender equality – Taboos and beliefs regarding menstruation often promote unfair practices. Menstruation-related restrictions to school, job, health care, and public activities further promote gender disparities.
The right to water and sanitation – Water and sanitation facilities, like bathing facilities, which are personal, healthy, culturally acceptable, and adequate, safe, and cheap water supply, are essential for maintaining menstrual health management.
The right to education – A lack of a safe place or the skill to manage menstrual hygiene, as well as a lack of treatment to reduce menstruation-related pain, can all lead to increased rates of school absence and poor educational results. Some studies have found that when girls are unable to manage menstruation well at school, their attendance and performance drop. This dramatically impacts their dignity, well-being, and right to an education and to work.
The right to work – Poor access to adequate ways of managing menstrual hygiene, as well as a lack of medication to treat menstruation-related problems or discomfort, limit women’s and girls’ employment opportunities. They may refuse to take certain professions or be forced to reduce working hours and salaries.
Interventions and period poverty
After a voice raised by many people and activists on social platforms, various non-profit organizations are working to develop menstrual equality policies throughout the country to solve the challenges women face due to the unavailability of sanitary products. Even the government is trying to create an impact on people. In 2014, the “Swachh Bharat: Swachh Vidyalaya” initiative was launched to provide functioning and well-maintained ‘WASH’ facilities in schools throughout the country. The facilities provided under ‘WASH’ are soap, a private area for changing pads, enough water for washing, and a place to dispose of old and used sanitary napkins.
Also, Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) suggests that teachers and school administrations should spread awareness about menstrual health and its consequences.
Time by time, efforts have been made by the government to uplift the menstruation taboo, like the introduction of napkin vending machines and eco-friendly disposal techniques. On Women’s Day in 2018, the government introduced 100% biodegradable oxy biodegradable sanitary napkins, named ‘Suvidha,’ in packs of four for ten rupees. Though the government tried to incorporate the use of sanitary napkins through this campaign, it failed to create nationwide awareness.
What can the government do?
If we want to change how menstruation is seen today, the education, health, and municipal sectors should collaborate on this initiative. Here are some pointers that can be used to address the issue and ensure growth in terms of menstrual hygiene management (MHM).
Providing sanitary goods for free/reduced rates
Making sanitary products more available to women is one of the most important ways to prevent period poverty. Moreover, the figures show that the lack of access to hygienic items is severely disappointing in rural parts of the country; even metropolitan cities are the same. Moreover, while the figures that show the lack of access to sanitary goods are severely disappointing in rural parts of the country, metropolitan cities need to perform better in these areas. As a result, rather than just reducing taxes, governments should ensure that high-quality sanitary items are given free of charge, mainly to people belonging to the lower strata of society.
Bettering other facilities
Whenever the government plans to construct more toilets, they should consider that public toilets are places where gender issues arise. In their development plans, they must prioritize menstrual health management, which usually focuses on infrastructure growth (in quantity) above improving the already awful public toilets.
As already said, health, education, and infrastructure must work together to create a more gender-equitable society. Therefore, various amenities such as water supply, waste management systems, public safety, well-maintained public toilets, and gender-sensitive infrastructures should be established to establish a functioning and successful MHM system.
Conclusion
Menstrual health is still considered taboo in many countries. The shame of menstruation and menstrual sanitation is a clear violation of various human rights, especially the right to human dignity. Therefore, resolving these challenges requires a thoughtful approach. One solution can be to start a movement that does not exclude any vulnerable menstruators (girls with physical and mental disorders, trans-men, teenage girls living on the streets, child workers, and persons in imprisoned juvenile centers). It is high time that period poverty should be identified as a part of the country’s public health crisis.
Government can reduce stigma by enlightening themselves, normalizing conversations about periods, imposing gender-sensitive policies (mandatory menstrual hygiene sensitization programs, menstrual leaves), providing sanitary items and services in schools and workplaces, prioritizing menstrual health and well-being as much as food, water, or medicines, and revising health curriculum in schools and universities.
Menstruation is a natural biological process, and young girls and women should realize that they can reproduce only because of this virtue. ‘Menstrual Hygiene,’ as one of the most basic fundamental human rights, needs immediate attention and action across the country, and this cannot wait.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408698/
https://feminisminindia.com/2020/05/21/missing-out-addressing-period-poverty/
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(18)30143-3/fulltext
https://feminisminindia.com/2021/07/28/what-is-period-poverty/
https://feminisminindia.com/2021/02/26/period-poverty-endangers-womens-right-to-dignity/
https://www.unfpa.org/menstruationfaq
https://www.wvi.org/blogpost/menstrual-hygiene-rights-are-human-rights-period#:~:text=Menstrual%20hygiene%20rights%20are%20connected,greater%20risk%20of%20developing%20infections.
https://ideas4development.org/en/menstrual-hygiene-fight-human-rights-dignity/
Written by Tannishtha Pal | Proofread by Yasmin Uzykanova
