The Bleed Eco Project is a campaign that has been launched, in association with the Youth Ki Awaaz Action Network on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM).
Here, we aim at spreading awareness about inclusive, sustainable, economic and eco-friendly menstruation for all. Menstruation, unlike popular belief, is not a gendered physical activity. For trans-men and gender non-binary folks, it tends to be a process as psychologically difficult as the bodily pain that accompanies the same. In recent years, several organizations have brought up the topic of menstrual health and successfully freed it from the social stigma that initially surrounded it.
However, the menstruation that comes to us through mainstream media is neatly bowtie-wrapped in pretty pink packages, a colour generally associated with the female sex, and it is considered to be a women’s health issue.
In reality, it is a lot more and here, at Bleed Eco, we want to freely engage in the topic of menstruation, the many myths popularly associated with it, the varying anatomies of sanitary hygiene and discuss eco-friendly ways of menstruation. It is an effort at not only opening up the broad spectrum of the menstruating population to the society but also to inform, educate and help them, as well as others, to learn about the various ways of bleeding safely and responsibly.
Most educational institutions that we have come across lack proper sanitation and fundamental menstruation friendly facilities. In a series of testimonials that we have been collecting from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, the students have opened up about the appalling conditions of the many washrooms across the campus. The few common complaints against them that have surfaced are as follows: malfunctioning taps, flushes and faucets, unclean dustbins, the absence of a sanitary pad vending machine and broken locks on bathroom stalls, among many.
Most of the students have also confessed to having contracted urinary tract disorders (UTIs) and expressed their dwindling desire to be on the campus and attend classes on days they are menstruating just because of the aforementioned unhygienic conditions of the washrooms and a general lack of availability of sanitary napkins in the campus. We, at Bleed Eco, are wishful of turning around the experience of these menstruators.
How Do We Wish To Bring About The Change?
Below, we are listing a number of things that we wish to facilitate the students with. These include:
- Functional taps with clean running water for students to be able to wash their hands after using the toilets.
- Working cisterns and flushes as un-flushed toilets lead to increased susceptibility to conditions such as UTIs, rashes, bacterial build-up and skin conditions.
- Proper waste disposal system with dustbins in every stall for students to be able to dispose of used sanitary products and ensure proper waste management so that sanitary products are not disposed of in open spaces.
- Soap dispensers and bidet sprays to maintain hygiene and to be able to clean menstrual cups and, at the very least, one’s private parts after using the toilet.
- Locks on the washrooms stalls and hooks to keep your belongings to ensure privacy and to be able to store bags to access sanitary hygiene products as and when required.
- Sanitary vending machines for situations in which students do not have access to sanitary pads or other menstrual hygiene products but urgently need them.
- Routine maintenance and deep cleaning of the washrooms to ensure sanitation and cleanliness and to prevent the spread of diseases.
- Accessible and disability-friendly washrooms with ramps, wheelchair-height toilets and basins, grab bars and handles, Braille maps in corridors to help locate washrooms easily.
The Bleed Eco Project believes that access to proper sanitation is a basic human right. Our demands are addressed to the Vice-Chancellors of several prominent universities in Kolkata, especially Jadavpur University where we aim at heralding the project, and the Ministry of Health and Education to take action on the atrocious conditions of the washrooms in educational institutions which have proved to be a menace for menstruating and as well as disabled students.
You could help up by signing our petition to help us strive forward towards our goal – Bleed Safe, Bleed Eco!