I work with a grass-roots organisation and am currently located in Madhya Pradesh. The last one year in the field has been an enriching experience. Ever since I joined the sector I knew it would not be an easy journey. So far the journey has been an enriching but challenging experience. My job demands extensive field engagement, a minimum of 4 to 5 hours spent in the field. The minimum distance I have to cover is 20 kilometres, and in a day I cover about 60 kilometres on my two-wheeler.
The roads are mostly washed out or rutted. The main challenge is to travel during the time of menstruation. Sporadic weather, lack of accessible toilets and risk of health issues make working in the field during periods an unpleasant experience.
Infrastructure:
Credits: Wikimedia Commons
Even today, villages lack proper sanitation, and people resort to defecation in the open. For somebody like me, who is privileged, to go out in the open is a huge challenge in the field when I am left without any access to washrooms. In my experience institutions like panchayats and schools of the village also either lack washrooms or a clean washroom, let alone houses in the villages.
Due to lack of access to washrooms it gets difficult to manage on the days of periods. Even if I come across a washroom another major roadblock is an issue of water in villages. There are houses with washrooms but quite a few with the option of running water.
What caught my attention and added to my irritation at times is lack of basic infrastructure like washrooms at women’s collective institutions. One of the cluster level offices of women’s collective lack the facilities. This place is a space for women, yet the basic needs of a woman are inaccessible.
Disposal:
Another major issue is the disposing of sanitary pads. In villages the concept of waste management is different. Unlike urban spaces, rural areas do not have an option of dustbins or trash collection drives. Therefore, they resort to burning their waste. In villages there are a handful of women who use sanitary pads, but the ones who do have real concerns when it comes to disposing of them.
Credits: Wikimedia Commons
Due to the myths, taboos and secrecy around menstruation women at first wash off their sanitary pads before burning them or dig a pit to dispose of them. Burning sanitary pads is not the best practice as it releases harmful gases that affect human health and the environment. The stigma, taboo and lack of waste management make it difficult during the time of periods to change sanitary pads within a regular interval.
Therefore, it gets difficult for me to change sanitary pads at regular intervals and even dispose of them in the village. Among fellow women colleagues in the organisation time and again they complain about rashes and infections.
Health:
In this job, which demands rigorous field engagement, the pertaining issue among women colleagues is related to health. Reproductive Tract Infections and other vaginal diseases caused due to rigorous field engagements and due to delay in changing sanitary pads is a huge concern. A lot of my female colleagues and I have to wait a long time to reach accessible washrooms. In most cases it means travelling back to the office space or home.
Due to these issues a lot of my female colleagues have made a switch to menstrual cups, yet, this sustainable option is only available and viable to women from urban spaces and women from rural areas still find it difficult to reach out for sanitary pads. Even among female colleagues, a lot of them are not comfortable using a cup.
Conclusion:
The organisation I work with allows work from home, which makes it easy to work from the comfort of your space and without taking leaves. Yet, work from home option is still a luxury and a privilege.
The rural spaces of India still lack basic infrastructure and waste disposal management and even an option to take leave on the days of periods.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program