A documentary titled, “Cycle Series’’ beautifully portrayed menstruation across different sections of women especially on the lived experiences of Allison Victory, who led a major chunk of her life as a homeless woman. The theme of the documentary was inspired by Tamara Whiting’s reflections on her journey of working with an organization that educates and looks after the menstrual needs of homeless women.
Each woman’s menstrual experience comprises a unique and different set of psychophysical states, but the same scenario for women who live on roads is somewhat like this; lack of private space, toilet facility and water, and finances for purchasing menstrual hygiene products makes this their menstrual journey traumatic.
A Billion Women Around The World Lack Access To Basic Hygiene Facilities
As per the UN reports, 1.2 billion women worldwide do not have proper access to water, hygiene, and sanitation facilities. It further throws light on the scenario of South Asian countries where the majority of the schools fail to meet WHO standards of having one toilet for every twenty-five girls.
Despite the fact that Menstrual Hygiene has been recognized by the UN as a global public health concern and a human right issue, yet 1.2 billion women are deprived of basic sanitation and hygiene services globally.
Here Are Some Narratives of Brave Women
“I used to use cloth and still use cloth and now to soak more blood. I even use torn and thrown away bandages as well.”
This woman collects the discarded bandages from the hospital waste and uses it to soak her menstrual blood. Failure to purchase safe and hygienic menstrual products compels females living on the road to adopting such unhygienic and dicey methods to manage menstrual blood. Women who are living in tents with no concrete doors, relying on curtains to enclose their spaces which are usually ill-lit and unhygienic with failure to access water, ultimately end up being in a pool of complex health issues.
Living in a place, on the road, which itself is unsafe and unhygienic, and having zero access to basic necessities of survival like water, private space, money, makes it extremely tormenting for maintaining hygiene during periods.
“It’s very difficult to maintain cleanliness around but whatever little I can, like washing everyday when water is available I do, apart from this extra I can’t afford to do. I use public toilets and hospital toilets to change and wash.”
When asked the respondents whether they face any health problems they only told about the “Inconvenience, discomfort, rashes near the private place, itching, sometimes burning issues.’’ These are some of the common health issues which most women face. Many of them are unaware of the deep-rooted health consequences of such unhygienic practices.
Their Innocent And Simple Demands: “I Get Rashes Using Clothes And Papers, I Want Free Pads”
Many women in the study confessed their desire to have access to sanitary napkins during periods. So that the blood gets properly soaked without clamping the cloth so that they can feel clean and pleasant; and their mobility is free from any sort of fear and anxiety.
The second most pressing need expressed by the participants of the study is, that the government and or the NGOs low-cost pad making private organizations, working for women according should guarantee them safe places for menstruating women to go and change her soiled pad and clean herself, in order to maintain her cleanliness and hygiene during her periods.
The third dire need of women staying on roads is to get free access to medicines for getting relief from painful menstrual cramps and other menstrual-related concerns so they can carry their daily activities effectively and with dignity, despite their financial and logistic conditions. As one of the respondents (Swain, S., Rey, D,2020) has expressed, “No water; no pads; no medicines; no privacy are the difficulties that I face. I wish to have a safe place to clean myself, and get medicines and pads for free”
Homeless women still face logistic problems like lack of access to toilets, private spaces, medical care. Two and a half months ago a homeless woman in Bihar died due to acute hunger in Muzzafarpur Railway station. She was one of the most unfortunate members of the community who face taboo and stigma during menstruation due to such basic deprivations which makes their living dicey.