“My favourite colour is pink. It is the colour of love and emotions. It is the colour of my flag. The flag that I wave with pride.”
Menstruation is a natural part of the reproductive cycle that a woman experiences. However, the taboos surrounding menstruation and menstrual health in India have given rise to a serious case of Period Poverty in the country. It refers to a situation where women lack sanitary products and related essentials such as functional, sanitised toilets with clean water.
According to the latest figures from charity Sanitation First, one in five menstruating girls living in poverty in rural India drop out of school when they start their period—that’s 10 million every single year.
Acting upon the concerning situation, the Government of India has recognised the importance of menstrual hygiene to the health, well-being and educational achievements of girls and women and has developed several programs to improve Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in schools, targeted at improving knowledge, access and disposal of menstrual waste, and improving sanitation in schools, with support from several organisations.
Production and marketing of low-cost sanitary pads, government-subsidised sanitary pads in rural areas, school vending machines for sanitary pads and pad incinerators and increasing gender-separated toilet facilities are some of the key features of this scheme.
West Bengal is one of those States trying to implement the directions of MHM and bring a positive change in the general attitude of how menstruation is viewed in society. In the recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), young women between ages 15 and 24 were asked the various hygienic method(s) they use during menstruation.
In West Bengal, 79.7% of rural women used a “hygienic method” of menstrual protection compared to 91.2% of urban women. The NFHS-5 considered only locally prepared napkins, sanitary napkins, tampons and menstrual cups to be hygienic methods of protection.
Although a huge gap of accessibility between urban and rural women still exists, this is still a huge improvement from the previous NFHS-4 report, which found that only 47.6% of rural women used “hygienic methods” of protection during menstruation.
One such initiative that has helped advocate for menstrual health and awareness, especially in the rural areas, is the “Pink Flag Movement” in the Zilla Parishad of Nadia in West Bengal. The movement is unique both in its structure and form. Aiming at holistic awareness regarding menstruation from the very grassroots level, the campaign aims to educate young girls in schools and has seven large components:
- Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) on MHM.
- Having peer leaders and facilitating an idea of community learning.
- Training/Orientation for the community resource person.
- Availability of sanitary napkins at the grassroots level through manufacturing initiatives.
- Increasing access to the last mile consumer.
- Facilitating environment-friendly disposal of sanitary napkins.
- Research impact assessment.
The initiative has been launched in about 24 schools. The movement is being implemented by forming clubs named “Pink Flag Club” comprising 30-40 members, with the support of Understanding the Tendencies of Social Asymmetry (UTSA), the partner organisation involved in aiding the movement.
In an interview, Mr Shiben Bhattacharya, the Nadia District Coordinator, said, “The main idea is to form these school-level clubs comprising about 40 students headed by female teachers. We wish to normalise menstruation as something natural happening to females on a monthly basis.
“The students are being taught about menstruation and menstrual hygiene management through case studies, stories, and other colourful and fun-filled activities about menstrual hygiene management and overall perception about menstruation.”
The movement is different from any other period positive movement seen in the country because herein, the importance is given to these young school girls at the very foundational level. The movement aims to educate young school girls about menstruation in an attempt to create voices that would spearhead this campaign later in the future.
By using modern means like films, quizzes, drama and more, the movement is expanding and gaining momentum every day. The district administration plans to spread the movement across the district and reach more institutions.
Additionally, the district administration has installed two sanitary napkin manufacturing units—one in Duttapulia in Ranaghat II block and another in Patikabari in Nakashipara block to be operated by SHG Clusters. Both the units are technologically advanced and capable of manufacturing around 10,000 sanitary napkins per day.
To achieve true gender equality, girls must attend and reach their full potential in schools. If the girl does not have a safe, comfortable and hygienic place to manage her period in school, she is missing 5 days of school a month on average. By the time she is in the 9th or 10th grade, she is so far behind her male peers that she is forced to drop out.
Education is a means of empowerment, of self-sustainability. Hence, it is imperative that girls are provided with adequate knowledge, means and support regarding menstruation in their educational institutions.
In a cross-sectional study conducted among 200 adolescent girl students of a Government school located in Behala West circle in Kolkata, it was found that 59% of the candidates were not aware of menstruation before menarche.
Girls need to be aware of menarche, the biology behind menstruation and be able to manage their menstruation in a safe environment with proper access to hygienic menstrual materials and facilities for changing and disposing of menstrual items.
Girls dropping out of schools due to improper facilities holds them back from having a job in the future. This is not a women’s issue; this is a GDP issue.
The author is a Kaksha Correspondent as a part of writers’ training program under Kaksha Crisis.