Menstrual Hygiene Practices Of Adolescent Girls: An Observation In An Urban Village In Delhi

Introduction

An urban village is a place where the kind of infrastructure and living environment directly impacts our health. In the COVID-19 lockdown era, the Delhi government has not been able to cater to essential needs in urban villages, particularly for adolescent girls. We often converse on migrant workers who have suffered the most in the corona era; however, shouldn’t they be fearful of the virus spread in the name of quarantine when they come back to these urban villages? Once they come back and start living in these urban villages again with their family, difficulties around adolescent health will increase. As we talk about ‘hand wash’ as the easiest way to fight against COVID-19, how far will hand wash practice and menstruation hygiene in urban villages uphold, given the water and toilet crisis in the lockdown era?

Health And Livelihood In the Pre and Post Lockdown Period

The term ‘social distancing’ applies everywhere now; we even necessitate keeping safer distance from our loved ones. But how safe are we, living in a single-room home with all the family members? The accommodation unit in the urban village is very small and suffocating, with sharing toilets. In this scenario, the worst condition is of the menstrual health of girls, who are particularly getting impacted ruthlessly in the long run.

Keeping themselves hygienic and maintaining sanitation during menstrual cycle is now the biggest challenge for adolescent girls. In one room, it is difficult for girls to take out sanitary napkins in the presence of others, especially at night.

During our fieldwork, it was observed that girls try to hide their condition and hitches as much as possible, which is very tumultuous. At an age when they are supposed to be studying, they have to worry about where to thrown their pads/cloths or how to clean themselves without access to water.

The basic menstrual hygiene standard is absent among the majority of girls. Even their diet, which is important during adolescence, because of gender norms, is difficult to maintain. Patriarchy is still practised among many North Indian families, where girls and women eat food only after male members of the family are done eating their meals. Therefore, in the phase of quarantine, the number of sanitary pads and the amount of water available to them in bathrooms are not a big matter of concern now.

There is a certain physiological activity in the human body that is happening every day and getting widely impacted, especially for adolescent girls in an urban village during this lockdown period. Menstrual hygiene practices are surrounded by a taboo that denies girls to be open among male family members. At the age of menarche, she is advised to be quiet about this matter and take care of her personal hygiene by hiding it. A proper guide is lacking in an urban village home. Do we have the kind of proficiency to provide this guide that temples and shopping mall have? The State is not considerate about this population in this pandemic alert. Many Anganwadi centres are now providing free sanitary napkins in urban villages, as it was earlier announced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for adolescent girls. Special arrangements are being made in urban villages, for example at religious places or malls, where there is a free installation of machines that provide sanitary napkins and sanitiser.