Menstruation or periods are when a woman bleeds through her vagina as a part of her menstrual cycle. It is a normal biological process. It is natural. Every month menstruators have their periods, and during periods they bleed.
It is as essential as eating food or breathing air to survive. It is a natural phenomenon with nothing unusual about the same. Menstruators undergo a lot of hormonal changes during those days of periods. Menstrual cramps, mood swings, acne outbursts, backache etc., are all PMS (premenstrual symptoms) during which the menstruators are vulnerable and need more care and support.
There are many taboos related to menstruation, such as restricting visits to temples during periods, not entering the kitchen while menstruating etc. As a result, menstruators suffer due to these taboos. Moreover, they feel discriminated against in society due to these taboos.
Even talking about menstruation is a taboo in itself. People don’t even talk about menstruation. Also, it has been seen that still many of the males in our society are still not aware of menstruation. Further, the people who are aware are surrounded by these taboos. These taboos affect menstruators’ mental and physical health. In addition, these taboos exclude menstruators from many aspects of social and cultural life.
In some parts of the world, even the mention of menstruation is taboo. Some people consider menstruation as dirty and impure. Hence, these people think of menstruators as unclean and impure. However, menstruation is a normal biological process that is unique to females.
Scientifically, menstruation is the biological process where the uterus sheds its lining. This uterine membrane gives nutrition and oxygen to the developing embryo in case of pregnancy through blood. Every human being comes to life after receiving this blood.
If fertilization of the egg doesn’t happen in the uterus, this same uterine membrane sheds as the period of blood. And this is followed by the preparation of the next menstrual cycle.
So why should menstruators be considered impure? There is no reason for this. Menstruation is a natural process, but the shame, stigma and misconception associated with it prevail among different parts of the world even today.
A Cycle Of Shame And Silence: Period Poverty And Its Impact On Menstruators – Youth Ki Awaaz – https://t.co/jL4GfxoKZ7 #periodpoverty
— Path to Womanhood Foundation (@PathToWomanhood) January 28, 2022
The taboos surrounding periods are many. Some menstruators are restricted from the daily life tasks they are doing. The most prominent one is not to enter any temple or puja at home. Also, menstruators are restricted from touching holy books and offering prayers.
The second central myth surrounding menstruation is that women cannot cook food. Therefore, there is a myth that menstruators are impure, and if they cook food during menstruation, the food also gets impure.
Further, there is a myth that menstruators can’t touch pickles. Earlier, women used to bury the cloth used during menstruation so that any evil spirit couldn’t use them. Some types of dietary restrictions are also imposed on menstruators during menstruation in some parts of the world.
In some parts of the world, menstruators are shunned from their homes and are made to stay in cattle sheds or makeshift huts. Further, these huts are on the periphery of the town with no facilities. In these huts, women are more likely to suffer from severe health disorders.
Moreover, the young girls cannot go to school during their menses. As a result, these young girls miss school every month, thus affecting their education, and many drop out of school.
It has also been seen that menstruators during their menstruation are not allowed to go through the farm fields that have crops ready to be harvested because some people believe that menstruating women can damage crops. And there are many more taboos related to this. All these are scientifically wrong.
All these have a very negative impact on a menstruator’s mind and make them feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. Menstruators start feeling inferior due to these taboos. These taboos exclude menstruators from many aspects of their life and pose a hurdle for their advancement.
To improve the status of women in society as a whole, we must address these issues. The stigma which these beliefs have created needs to be ended. Menstruation is a fact of life. We need to end the shame and embarrassment associated with menstruation. People need to understand menstruation scientifically.
There is a global need to address the menstrual health needs of menstruators. We must change the systems, norms and attitudes to support menstruators’ menstrual health and well-being. Sachhi Saheli, a Delhi based NGO, has been actively working for years to end these illogical taboos related to menstruation.
They have come away for a long, but still, there is a long way to go. The NGO actively works on menstrual health and hygiene and sexual harassment-related to women. Some of the significant and impactful initiatives taken by Sachhi Saheli are Menstrual Café, Pad Yatra and Period Fest.
Also, with initiatives like #abpatachalnedo, #redspotcampaign, #haqseonline -the organization has impacted breaking the taboos related to menstruation considerably. In addition, Sachhi Saheli has made people aware of menstruation and made girls understand that this is a normal process and that there is no need to be embarrassed about it.
Today, international bodies like the UN are also working on reducing discrimination and stigma surrounding menstruation, and the UN has also taken many concrete steps for this. Moreover, NGOs and local bodies can do awareness campaigns for people living in slums or rural areas and make them aware of menstruation.
These people can also make people aware of the importance of menstrual health and hygiene. Also, we need to educate men about menstruation. Sex education in school can help in achieving this. So that menstruators can live a life of respect and not be ashamed of being on a PERIOD.