Destigmatizing the stigma that menstruation never was

Menstruation, a naturally occurring biological process wherein upon attaining puberty between the age of 10-16, a woman’s uterus sheds its lining as a response to an unfertilized egg every month, an egg released if fertilized would lead to pregnancy instead and hence menstruation in women is a way of getting rid of the unnecessary tissues every month that would only be required during the onset of pregnancy when a woman gives birth to a new life, and hence menstruation symbolizes that a girl has almost attained puberty completely. Over 26% percent of the global population consists of women and girls who menstruate with India alone consisting of over 355 million menstruating women and yet women in India and around the globe are continually ostracized for this monthly phenomenon. In India alone, due to severe cultural norms and practices, women are often expelled from society and discriminated against as society continues to see periods/menstruation as a taboo, in India, little girls are often forced to give up on education at the onset of their periods since families often don’t allow them to step out during periods and remain ignorant, failing to provide their children with education on menstruation and menstrual hygiene due to which almost 23 million girls drop out from schools and fail to pursue higher education. It is often due to this that it is tougher to pull women out of poverty, especially women in rural areas, as women who fail to pursue higher education do not find well-paying jobs in formal sectors and often end up in low paying jobs wherein they are exploited and deprived of taking holidays during work hours due to which many women are forced to get rid of their wombs to stop periods without knowing the implications of having such surgeries. Even in urban areas parents and teachers often shy away from talking about menstruation due to which most girls are not aware of the phenomenon before actually experiencing it and are often left shocked as they tend to not be aware of the bodily changes that occur, for most girls, this could be a terrifying experience since they don’t actually realize or understand what menstruation actually is and often question the need of this biological process, unanswered questions then lead them to fall prey to discriminatory cultural practices such as not being allowed to enter places of worship and not being allowed in kitchens. Most societies follow longstanding discriminatory practices against menstruating women such as sending them away to separate huts and depriving them of eating certain food items, many societies also believe that a menstruating woman has black magic powers, and hence must be kept away from her near ones during her period, women are also prevented from touching pickles as certain sections believe that doing so would spoil the pickle however there is no scientific evidence for this discriminatory practice, what is disappointing is that due to lack of awareness on topics such as puberty and menstruation it is often women who continue to be flag bearers of such archaic practices and impose these unethical cultural practices on other women. Schools are considered to be abodes of knowledge and yet most schools fail to address menstruation and often even if they do address the topic it is held exclusively for girls in a secluded room where boys are restricted from entering, this practice of providing selective knowledge makes girls believe that this phenomenon is supposed to be a well-kept secret that must forever be hidden and never shared, this also makes young boys unaware about what periods are due to which they grow up not understanding this process and tend to find menstruation a topic that is forbidden to discuss about.

Myths/superstitions about menstruation

What makes menstruation a terrifying experience is the fact that menstruation is bordered by superstitions and unethical cultural practices that most people seem to impose on menstruating women which leads to anxiety, depression and disbelief among women, here are some of the harmful practices that people continue to follow and believe in till today in various societies across the globe.

• Touching pickles may spoil the pickle making it taste sour, a woman must not enter the kitchen or cook food while on her period.
• A woman must not sleep in her own house and must rather sleep in shelters away from her house.
• It is forbidden to offer prayers while a woman is on her period.
• A woman develops magical, demonic powers while she is on her period.
• A menstruating woman must not touch flowers since the flowers may dry up and die.
• Physical activities such as exercising are unhealthy.
• Women on their periods are impure and dirty.

Facts about menstruation

• Out of over 355 million menstruating women in India, only about 36% have access to sanitary pads the rest use cloths which are often not used by just one but are shared by multiple women in villages and also use mud and leaves as an alternative, to soak blood.
• Most reproductive diseases in women such as cervical cancer, PCOS/PCOD, endometriosis, etc are caused due to a lack of menstrual hygiene and unhealthy menstrual practices combined with the unavailability of affordable sanitary napkins.
• 23 million girls are dropping out of schools in India every year upon the onset of their menstrual cycle due to family pressure and the unavailability of proper hygiene facilities at school campuses.
• 45% of Indian women still consider periods as an abnormal phenomenon and consider periods to be dirty.
• 71% of all women in India are unaware of periods before their actual period starts.
• As per a small survey conducted at my college which happens to be an all-girls college, about 41% of the girls were unaware of what periods were before their actual period started and about 44% of the girls responded that their families restrict them from praying, entering the kitchen and touching pickles.

Healthy period practices

• Avoid wearing a pad for more than 4 hours since the pad may accumulate bacteria which may lead to reproductive diseases or cause rashes and irritation.
• Avoid flushing away pads since that leads to spreading bacterial infections, instead wrap pads and then dispose the pads to prevent any kind of infectious bacterial spread.
• Sanitary pads contain enormous amounts of plastic which make them hard to dispose off and hence try to dispose the pads in a nearby incinerator which easily burns sanitary waste and prevents the spread of diseases.
• A healthy period cycle is one that generally lasts between 25 to 32 days with a variation of not more than 7 days, hence please seek medical advice from doctors if you notice any variation in your cycle or have a skipped period.
• Pre-menstrual pain such as bloating and backaches generally disappear after the period, consult a doctor if PMS lasts any longer after your period.
• Consult a medical professional if your period pain is not cured by any prescribed medicines or home remedies and lasts for more than a day in your cycle.

Today, governments around the world have come up with various menstrual schemes and have even evaded taxes on menstrual products, however, it is essential to understand that these schemes have limited reach and viability, for schemes to work it is important to start imparting knowledge on puberty and menstruation at homes, schools and rural areas without which people will always consider the phenomenon to be unnatural and may avoid even talking about it. Lastly, a woman on average spends 7 years of her entire life in periodic menstrual bleeding, these women account for half the population globally and these women do matter, hence, as a society, we need to grow and help these women grow out of the stigma that they are made to believe that menstruation is rather than abusing them with archaic practices, equity is only achievable when men and women both come together and challenge unethical customs and norms.