Health and Hygiene

Women's health in the world is one of the crucial issues that are being dealt with by governments and non-governmental organizations. 64.7% of women in the world [1] are currently within the menstrual age, and majority of them do not have access to clean environments or safe products. Despite this being unique to girls, menstruation has always been surrounded with myths in many societies, including India. Indian women are generally more subjected to these taboos in rural areas, where 73% of the poor live [2], and where education levels are lower as well.

Taboos and myths about menstruation impact girls' and women's emotional state, mental and physical health as well as lifestyle. The challenge of addressing the socio-cultural taboos and beliefs about menstruation is further compounded by ignorance about puberty, menstruation and reproductive health.

Some of the taboos in India as it relates to menstruating females are:

1. They are considered impure, dirty, and contaminated during menstruation

2. They are not allowed to enter places of worship, and are restricted from offering prayers and touching holy books

3. They are not allowed to sleep during the day, bathe, wear flowers, talk loudly, or touch anybody

4.They are not allowed to enter the kitchen, cook, or prepare any meals.

Due to these regressive ideologies, the growth and development of women has been severely restricted. In a study [3] conducted in 2013, 62% of females were unaware of the reasons for menstruation. The role of the health sector in providing information regarding menstruation was minimal as only a few women (1.5%) had received information from a health worker. Only 28.8% of women were using sanitary napkins and of those who did not use napkins, only one-fourth (25.3%) were willing to buy them.

Large numbers of girls in many less economically developed countries drop out of school when they begin menstruating. This includes over 23% of girls in India. Over 77% of menstruating girls and women in India use an old cloth, which is often reused without proper disinfection. Furthermore, 88% of women in India resort to using ashes, newspapers, dried leaves and husk sand to aid absorption. Lack of openness about menstruation makes them believe in the above ideologies, which has the followingimplications:

1. Missing school or dropping out altogether

2. Lack of support system within the community

3. Limited knowledge of menstrual hygiene practices

4. Health problems like Anemia, Leucorrhea and other 5.sexually transmitted diseases due to improper menstrual hygiene practices

Periods still a taboo in Indian society: TISS study

Eight of ten Indian girls are not allowed to enter religious shrines when they are on their period; six of ten girls said they are not allowed to touch food in the kitchen, and 3 of 10 are asked to sleep in a separate room.

That menstruation taboos still have firm roots in Indian society was revealed in a study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Funded by the UNICEF and published in the British Medical Journal, the study tried to find out how much access adolescent girls have to menstrual hygiene in India.

The study used data about 97,070 girls collected by 138 earlier studies on menstrual practices in India, between the years 2000 and 2015.

“India prides itself as a young nation, but these results show religious taboos and restrictions faced by girls are very common. None of these restrictions have any scientific backing,” said professor Sivakami from TISS’ School of Health System Studies.

Sivakami, who was a co-author of the study with researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, said the findings suggest scientific knowledge about mensuration among girls is inadequate. The study also found that half of all adolescent girls part of the study had no idea about menstruation when they got their first period.

Activists fighting gender discrimination said such restrictions imposed on women during their periods have become so common that they are now accepted as social norms.

“There is a mindset that women are impure especially during her periods. The most disturbing thing is women themselves believe that. I know women who don’t enter mandirs in their own homes,” said Trupti Desai, founder of the Bhumata Brigade that successfully broke the ban on entry of women into the inner sanctum of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharasthra’s Ahmednagar.