My WhatsApp notification popped up with ‘No Shaming No Stigma’ around bleeding, ‘Happy Menstrual Hygiene Day’ and ‘Red Dot Challenge’.
So I was reminded that it’s May 28, observed internationally as Menstrual Hygiene Day. It is celebrated as an annual awareness day to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management.
Menstrual Hygiene Day
German-based NGO WASH United initiated the day in 2014 to help spread awareness among women and girls worldwide. The date 28th was selected to acknowledge and celebrate 28 days as the average length of a menstrual cycle. People across all walks of life, including communities, NGOs, INGOs, youths, government functionaries and civil society members proudly celebrate this event.
Adolescents Menstrual Experience
On such an auspicious day for menstruators, I decided to interact with a group of adolescent girls on the subject of Menstrual Hygiene Day in the Semiliguda block of Koraput district, Odisha. More particularly, my interaction focused on sharing the problems that young girls face because of lack of proper access to toilet in schools during those days of the month, as well as to understand how safe do they feel in going to the toilet. What tactics and practices do they resort to?
Problems Faced By Adolescent Girls During School Hours
Infrastructural Problems
Damayanti Dora (name changed) started menstruating two month ago during school hours. She told me that she was frightened to see the blood because she had negligible knowledge on what menstruation is. She though that she would die, so she informed her female friends about it, who then approached the class teacher, thinking it’s a serious issue and she might need to immediately visit the hospital. Her class teacher brought her a sanitary napkin from the market and informed her about her menstruation cycle. After coming back to home, her mother stopped from going to school for the next seven days.
When I asked her why her mother stopped her from going to school, she said, “There are no facilities in our school to change sanitary napkins. The girls’ toilet is inside the boys’ toilet and they are not in a good condition.” She said she feels shy to use that toilet and feels uncomfortable carrying the napkin to the toilet. Meanwhile, the toilet does not have a dustbin so she has to carry her used napkin outside with her and find an appropriate place to throw it.
Problems Associated With Social Stigma
Rasmita Majhi (name changed) from Dumuripur village said that “inadequate access to toilet facility in the school leads to both health hazards as well as sexual assault. When I go to toilet to change my sanitary napkin, I feel conscious of the boys loitering around. Also, the low walls of the school and little distance, or sometimes no distance, between the boys’ and girls’ toilet are a permanent security threat.”
She added, “The problem gets aggravated for me when I’m menstruating. I have to carefully calculate and map my journey, which discourages me from accessing the toilet. The school toilet is so unclean that I prefer going out for urinating, but during my period, I have to use the toilet for changing the sanitary pad.” The experiences of girls reveals that they feel nauseous using unclean toilets, but continue to use them because there are no alternatives.
During my discussion with them, the girls informed me that schools don’t provide any storage facilities of sanitary napkins. This is why some girls take leave from school days during their menstruation so that they can avoid awkward circumstances during school hours.
Reproductive Health Issues
White discharge is the most common problem among girls. Among other reasons, doctors attribute this to not washing private parts properly after going to the toilet. As girls in these schools are forced to carry water containers to the toilet due to absence of pipe water facility, most of them end up not using water at all after urinating. This gets aggravated during their periods. They are also forced to throw their used sanitary napkins in the field or stuff them in latrines because there is no dustbin in the toilet.
As a result of using dirty toilets, girls become prone to contracting urinary tract infections and seek treatment only after their ailment becomes severe. Further, many girls drink less water and hold in their urine to avoid unclean toilets. This leads to serious health consequences.
Hence, the traditional norms and cultural practices around accessibility of essential sanitary items, as well as hygienic knowledge on menstruation makes the process stigmatised. So, we need to make school infrastructure menstruation-friendly for a happy menstruation, so that our adolescents can celebrate ‘Happy Menstrual Hygiene Day’.