The taboo surrounding menstruation overlooks the categorical and hierarchical classifications of caste, class, and gender. Menstrual blood is traditionally portrayed as disgusting and impure and is explicitly differentiated from other bodily fluids.
The implicit prejudices that we all have as a consequence of our socioeconomic background have often contributed to us developing a misleading impression and therefore failing to recognize the significance of prioritizing and dismantling misconceptions about menstruation.
As a result, it is important to answer the question of what constitutes period poverty, recognize the problems and find probable solutions.
Period poverty is inadequate access to menstrual products and hygiene education has been a significant impediment to progress toward menstrual equity. Because of the scarcity of menstrual products, as well as the shortage of washing facilities and waste management, this has become a costly affair.
The period poverty discussion aims to start a conversation about how to alleviate stigma and spread proper menstrual education.
It is also necessary to note that ‘not all menstruators are women, and not all women menstruate‘ when addressing period poverty. There are women all over the world who do not menstruate due to a variety of health conditions. We must have a conversation about menstruation that goes further than the gender binary. Menstruation is greatly affected in several third-world countries as a result of malnutrition, and India is no exception.
Recently, Scotland set a model example when it became the first nation to make menstrual products free for everyone. According to the current legislation, city municipalities are expected to allow feminine health supplies, such as sanitary pads and tampons, accessible to everyone in need.
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The step was seen as radical legislation aimed at eradicating period poverty. There are lessons to be drawn from the legislation for India, where the concept of menstruation is only spoken in quiet tones and is often considered a forbidden subject in public.According to the National Family Health Survey (2015-2016), just 121 million (36%) of India’s 336 million menstruating women use sanitary napkins. The consequences of such obliviousness are far-reaching.
According to a study issued the same year, titled Spot on, compiled by the NGO Dasra, which found that nearly 23 million schoolgirls in India drop out each year due to a lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities, a lack of goods, and a lack of knowledge.
Bad menstrual hygiene has been linked to at least 70% of all reproductive diseases in women, resulting in 40,000 cervical cancer deaths each year.
While the UN recognizes menstrual hygiene as a global health problem, the outbreak of the pandemic ‘Covid-19’ last year has vastly increased the risk of period poverty. Every month, up to 500 million napkins are used in India.
However, the lockdown brought new challenges for women in several parts of India, where napkin scarcity was registered. There was some uncertainty about the status of sanitary pads – whether they were essential or not. Finally, Union minister Smriti Irani tweeted in March that the Home Secretary had clarified to all state Chief Secretaries that sanitary pads were a necessity.
When the new tax structure was implemented in July 2017, sanitary pads were taxed under the 12 percent GST slab. In 2018, it was declared tax-free after a national uproar and months of campaigning.
Due to a lack of resources, India’s proposal to exclude sanitary napkins from service tax has not had a significant effect. Just 12% of menstruators in India have access to proper period goods, according to a study released by the Indian Ministry of Health. The remaining 88 percent, on the other hand, are primarily reliant on dangerous materials such as rags, fabric, hay, sand, and ash as their only choices.
Infectious urogenital diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), bacterial vaginosis with skin inflammation, vaginal itching, white and green discharge, and others are exposed as a consequence of this.
As a result of social stigma, loneliness, shame, and the inaccessibility of goods, more than 40% of students in India skip school while menstruating.
Avoidance of school is also a ramification of the country’s lack of adequate sanitation services. It is estimated that one out of every five girls drop out of school once they begin their menstrual period. Young girls are exposed to physical health risks at a young age as a consequence of inadequate, unsafe measures. It often harms people’s sexual, reproductive, and mental health.
The massive privatization of India’s healthcare sector has inevitably removed the requirements of a significant portion of the population.
40% of all government schools in India do not have properly working toilets, and 40% do not have separate toilets for girls.
The lack of a menstrual-friendly atmosphere in schools exacerbates the crisis. The scarcity and non-availability of female teachers throughout the country, particularly in remote areas, can be regarded as a significant issue that goes unaddressed.
Menstruation is a cultural stigma that prevents male teachers from participating in these conversations. Menstrual commodities are not often deemed vital in India. This concept is fundamentally founded on power hierarchies, which lead to women’s marginalization in patriarchal societies.
Addressing period poverty can be difficult because it is both a cultural and economic challenge that is propagated by long-held traditional practices and values. Ending period poverty necessitates not only improved menstrual education, but also the assistance of government, healthcare, and public entities. A lot of work is now being executed in this sector by NGOs and the people who fund them.
Allowing menstruation to be a taboo subject induces stigma, shame, and secrecy among young girls, which will extend into adulthood and fan the flames of gender discrimination.
Let us not force girls to conceal their menstruation at school.
We must act by providing much-needed menstrual products to girls throughout India and the world and accept menstruation as a natural bodily phenomenon.
We’ve been quiet for far too long. Girls in India need child-friendly learning environments that raise consciousness about menstrual hygiene management.
They are entitled to clean and private sanitation facilities, as well as a method for disposing of menstrual waste safely.
They deserve to be girls who are concerned about their future, not girls who are bothered by leakage, odor, pain, and trouble concentrating due to ill-management of menstruation.
