Menstrual hygiene day is celebrated to awareness about menstrual hygiene and to break the menstrual taboo. It is celebrated on 28th May as most women have a menstrual cycle of 28 days and the menstruation period is for about 5 days, marking 28/5. 'Periods in lockdown' served as the topic for Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020, which helped emphasize how challenging it is for women to manage period poverty. We get a chance to highlight the issues faced by women during periods that not only include myths and taboos but also include period poverty, which seems to be increasing on a day-to-day basis.
Menstrual blood is the sole supply of blood that is not traumatized, according to Judy Grahn's quotation. But in contemporary society, this is the blood that is the least visible and most secret, seen only in women's private lives. We are still largely silent when we discuss menstruation in the 21st century, even though we are loud about practically all of our choices and concerns. Period shame, myth, and taboo are nothing new in society, it’s a deep wound for every woman who has to go through it.
Period stigma had long affected the lives of adolescent girls and women; however, the pandemic has made matters worse. Before the COVID-19 crisis, 83% of women in Nepal used other forms of goods rather than real sanitary napkins. Not to mention, taboos like Chhaupadi still exist in the various remote areas of Nepal even after the ban of this stigma by the government in 2005, making circumstances even hard to survive at times leading to fatality.
Well, when we discuss periods stigma, poverty, and illiteracy are major factors. Due to poor sanitation, dirty water, sharing public restrooms, lack of adequate disposal areas, and an increase in the severity of the conditions caused by the absence of products, young girls are forced to leave school.
Menstruation taboos and stigma are a result of superstitious beliefs and practices. Not only Chhaupadi, taboos like “nachhuni” – untouchability still is prevalent in the society making it hard for girls to live through their periods with dignity and respect. Girls are typically regarded as impure and are forbidden from touching communal goods around them, forced to sleep on the ground instead of in a comfortable place, forced to keep their clothing and kitchen utensils separate from everyone else and forbidden from touching the male family members.
Inconvenient restrictions like this cause young girls to face period stigma for a long time, which lowers their self-esteem. Needless to say, it’s even more excruciating for trans and disabled women who have to go through double marginalization. The frontline female workers going through the same in this existing crisis are even more deepened and deal with more anxiety and depression.
It’s about time to eradicate these ruthless stigmas from society and start working towards decreasing period poverty in the country, aware the rural people regarding periods, educating women about menstrual hygiene, and taking bold steps to abolish these restrictions from society. It’s a time when every woman lives freely and with dignity during her periods and is not seen as untouchable.
Because the blood starts the process for the next generation in the world, menstruation is a holistic experience. Therefore, let's unite and fight for what is right, recognizing that periods are the most common occurrence in a girl's life, regardless of gender.
