Most women have been menstruating and dealing with the taboos associated with it in the minds of people. From being considered dirty and impure to being barred to a corner of the house, we face all sorts of discrimination during those five days of the month. However, things are changing at a significant pace, and we are seeing ample conversations happening around menstruation.
Various steps are being taken to educate people into standing against this discrimination and making women more empowered. But what to the people those who are a victim and face such discrimination every day since their birth? What for the women who are doubly discriminated against because of their gender and the caste they are born in?
We often tend to miss on the menstrual problems faced by Dalit women because we often ignore their voices. It is because we do not listen to enough narratives from the Dalit community about their menstrual experience. A large chunk of upper caste people still find it difficult to come to a consensus to the fact that menstrual hygiene conditions are far worse for Dalit women than upper-caste women. Well, if you do too then let us dive into it.
Caste As An Important Angle To Everything
Dalit is not just a caste; it is a political identity chosen by then considered untouchables by the caste system. This identity provides a sense of togetherness among the people from the marginalised community to fight against the still prevalent caste-based discrimination.
In every case, for victim, perpetrator, oppressed, or oppressor caste plays an important role. For centuries, caste-based atrocities have happened as an expression of power and superiority; it happens to subjugate every attempt to lower caste people towards equality. The ones who are left with a little strength are suppressed due to lack of resources and access to powerful positions.
The conditions are such that the villages of Dalit people often lack the basic facilities. In conversation, a Dalit family told that they have never used a sanitary pad all their life, one, for the high cost, two, for inaccessibility. She told me, there are no shops in the radius of 7km where they could get a pad. Therefore, they only opt for using old worn-out cloth during their periods. Altogether, this puts a question mark on the development in the Dalit villages.
Condition In The Unorganised Sector
Most of the crimes committed against Dalit people are because of the ingrained casteist mentality in people. It is an expression of the exercise of the power of upper caste people over lower caste and a way to keep pushing them down. Due to financial inaccessibility and discrimination at the workplace, they are denied even the basic level of education.
They are made to thrive on demeaning jobs such as manual scavenging, rack picking and cleaning human excreta. Reports suggest that 99% of those involved in manual scavenging are Dalits, and among them, 95% are women. Despite being banned since 1993, a large number of people made to go down that pathway to attain basic living, especially women.
Dalit women represent a large number of women working in the unorganised sector. They indulge in agriculture and harvesting work in the farms. Due to no fixed timings of work and unavailability of toilets, it becomes tough for them to manage their periods. Most of them come from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds, and cannot afford to take a period leave, which would cut down on their day’s wage. Succumbing to this, they are made to undergo surgical procedures long term irreversible health problems of getting their womb removed. This is taking up on their health as figured from their complaints of shortness in breath and constant body pain.
According to a study conducted by WEIGO, about 80% of the waste pickers are women. The nature of their daily work consists of walking long distances, collecting garbage door-to-door, cleaning drains and streets with no hygienic conditions. During the menstruation, it becomes even more challenging to maintain the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene).
Not A Geographical Issue
The urban population have been caught in the trap of believing that caste discrimination is a concept of ancient India and does not exist in the new modern world. They have been shaming the caste system while practising it themselves. The classist and casteist mentality doesn’t consider the maids, garbage collectors equivalent to them.
It is very dehumanising how they are made to sit on the floor, and their utensils are kept separate. Even during their periods, they do not have a choice of taking a day off, and while working is not allowed to use the same toilets used by the family members. Ironic how in such painful time of the month they are not allowed to use the very toilet they clean, just to satisfy the notion of their inherent purity by a Dalit menstruating woman.
On the surface, one might feel that caste does not affect the life a person, but by diving deep into it, one gets to know the extent of problems faced by Dalit women. Sure, the magnitude of the problem is bigger in the rural regions of India, but urban areas aren’t problem-free either.
Kiruba Munusamy, a Supreme Court lawyer and Dalit activist, was fired for taking a period leave. She exceedingly suffered for two things that were not in her control, menstruation and her birth as a Dalit. While sharing her experience, she described the extent of discrimination she went through just because of being born as a woman in a Dalit family.
“In 2014, I was working under a senior Supreme Court advocate who objected to me keeping my hair open at work. He did not like the idea of a dark-skinned Dalit woman with hair open in the courtroom and deliberately kept me from it. Let it be noted that the SC code of conduct mentions no such rule about hairstyles,” Munusamy said.
Menstruation And Untouchability
The practice of menstrual taboo cannot be equated to untouchability. Untouchability is a practice of social rejection, put under the caste system to segregate Dalits from the Savarna people. It promotes the belief of ritual purity assigned to a particular caste at the time of birth and retains that purity by not coming in contact or maintaining any relation with the untouchables. Even the shadow and footprints of the untouchables were considered impure.
The menstrual taboos that menstruators undergo, restricting to a room, the prohibition of touching pickles, denial of entry in kitchen and temple, reflect their attempt to keep women under control. However, the temporary defilement that the dominant upper-caste women go through should not be compared to the ages-old conceptual practice of untouchability. This five-day practise of taboo neither change the social position of privilege of Savarna women nor make them feel any equivalent to what Dalit women suffer every day. Moreover, even after facing such defilement themselves, Savarna women still fervidly uphold their superior status and practice of untouchability towards Dalits.
Women are made to go through this stigma to ensure the caste purity of the family. Since Dalits have no such entitlement to caste purity, therefore they do not have such taboos related to menstruation. Dalits having had lived with this discrimination all their life understands the purposelessness of it and therefore, will not want any other person go through the same, even for a few days.
In terms of menstrual of problems by equating Savarna women to Dalit women, we are backsliding the Dalit movement. We are negating the efforts and the fight that our ancestors fought to bring it to this level. We need to understand that the discrimination on account of menstruation may last for five days for a few women, but this social segregation is an inherent part of Dalit women’s life.
Period Poverty
Caste has had a significant implication of poverty. According to a report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), every second ST, every third Dalit and Muslim in India are poor. This multidimensional report examines poverty not just in terms of income but also other indicators such as nutrition, health and education. These conditions also include their inadequate access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene tools, washing facilities and waste management, which could lead to infections and other health problems.
A conversation of Shradha T K Lama with her Dalit friend in this article reflects how caste, menstruation and period poverty are mutually interconnected. She said, “How if we were given a sanitary napkin for free to the women in her family, they would rather sell it to feed their family than use it.”
Conclusion
Women bleed every month, irrespective of their caste, and while it may seem like caste has nothing to do with it, both are intricately connected. While we are working towards the upliftment to women, Dalit women need a slightly bigger push. It is time that we start looking at everything with an intersectional lens.