You are not allowed to do prayers! Not allowed to sit with everyone while having dinner on the dining table and not allowed to sleep on the bed. The menstrual cycle is a natural process like other processes we do in our daily routine then why talking about periods is a taboo. Why can’t girls explain and talk about their menstrual cycle when they are going through it and are in pain. Why don’t out society concentrates more on reducing the pain they suffer in their periods and their mood swings and crankiness instead they concentrate more how we can avoid these girls when they are going through this pain. Why girls and women become untouchable when they are in periods.
Most of the ladies even don’t know about it they need to change their napkins in every 6 hours which they don’t do due to lack of knowledge about the same. Why being women and suffering from the same cycle every month they are still unaware of the facts which are related to their menstrual cycle and sanitary pads. The lack of access to hygiene products is also a significant problem is India as sanitary napkins are still comes in luxury products use by women every month due to which out of 355 million menstruating women in India only 12% is able to use sanitary napkins which are shameful rather they going to temple and sleeping on bed while periods or having dinner with everyone like other days is not important topics to focus on which Indian society do. Women not using napkins during their periods can cause them infections and cause the problem later to them. Though with the changing world and generation people are more open talking about periods in the urban area but in rural areas ladies still face the same situation. Sanitary Napkin is considered under luxury product which should be the essential product, how can tax me charged for someone bleeding every month? Is it fair for women all around the world?
Of course, initiatives like muruganantham has taken there are some people in the world who take care of this area and talk about this topic being in the rural area. As mentioned by him ladies within his village were also shy talking to him about the topic but the kind of courage he has shown for people all over India is tremendous. It is very necessary Tampon tax is applied all over the world so the countries in which women don’t use sanitary napkins can take advantage of it and do not land into facing a lot of diseases. Not talking about it is not a solution instead of keeping mind little wider and taking it seriously would be a solution for our women not just in India but all over the world. The recent debate with Arun Jaitley should fetch results and consider sanitary napkins into essential goods. We as a society needs to understand that it affect private parts of women in long run and should educate them to avoid such situations.
Government and schools can collaborate together to run this campaign and educate not just girls but also men about it so that they should also be aware of this cycle where women suffer from pain and can understand the importance of such situations. In fact, education sector should be held responsible for contributing to the healthy development and manage changes and challenges they face in life. Girls report shame, confusion, fear, stress due to lack of knowledge while pertaining their puberty. Practically, government educating about puberty will give enchainment to this subject and will make them aware about day to day realities of life. The understanding sexual identity of each other youth is encouraged to feel confident about themselves and respect. According to a report, African girls miss 4 days of school in every 4 week but the sample of 198 girls in Nepal reports they miss out only 0.4 percent schooling in their periods due to the providence of sanitary technology which impacts less on their absenteeism. Talking about menstrual cycles will create awareness among all and hence it should not be a taboo to talk or discuss. Like sex, we know about it but we don’t talk about it. It will resolve all the negativity and fear youngsters have while coming in this place and will make a better world to live in.
