Menstrual Health

Menstrual Health

The Covid-19 epidemic negatively impairs girls’ and women’s abilities to effectively manage their menstrual hygiene and health. In order to manage their menstrual cycle in a dignified manner, these women—especially girls from low-income households—had to overcome a number of obstacles, including limited access to sanitary pads, restrooms, and social support.

As part of its initiatives to enhance the health of teenage girls and end period poverty, Plan India established “Menstrual Hygiene Education in India” in partnership with Kotex. This program aims to provide girls with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage their menstruation with dignity, confidence, safety, and self-assurance. This is intended to happen through a gender transformational process that leads to a positive mental shift and eliminates the stigma attached to menstruation, especially those related to hygiene and health.

The ability of women and girls to effectively manage their menstrual hygiene and health is significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to manage their menstrual cycle in a dignified manner, these women—especially girls from low-income households—had to overcome a number of obstacles, including limited access to sanitary pads, restrooms, and social support.

As part of its initiatives to enhance the health of teenage girls and end period poverty, Plan India established “Menstrual Hygiene Education in India” in partnership with Kotex. This program aims to provide girls with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage their menstruation with dignity, confidence, safety, and self-assurance. This is intended to happen through a gender transformational process that leads to a positive mental shift and eliminates the stigma attached to menstruation, especially those related to hygiene and health.

Menstrual Hygiene

Time periods! Though these are some indicators of a healthy female body, “that time of the month” is usually met with groans at the inconvenience and, for many, fear of the severe side effects of menstruation, including cramps.

However, there’s a buzz of excitement one afternoon in the beautiful courtyard of a school in a remote part of Rajasthan called Alwar.

A wave of students assembles around two women from the social enterprise Project Baala, who are giving a seminar to demystify menstruation. They speak and laugh together.

Whose cycles have begun? Whose menstrual cycles have not begun? Who is experiencing abdominal pain? The co-founder asks as a wave of raised palms welcomes her.

The awareness and affordability gap: The opportunity to learn and openly ask questions about periods is a precious one in this rural part of India, where myths and taboos around menstruation abound, while sanitary options are scarce. In India, about 50 per cent of women use cloth during menstruation, which is not classified as hygienic protection, according to the National Family Health Survey India (2019-21). Period poverty is a serious concern, with many menstruators from low-income households turning to homemade solutions because commercial sanitary products are not affordable to them. This in turn increases their risk of developing health issues like reproductive and urinary tract infections. And then there are the taboos. “Impure”, “unclean”, “Do not enter temples” and “Do not wash your hair” are just some of some of the no-nos repeated to girls all over India. “My mother has told me that during menstruation, we shouldn’t eat sour food,” says Khushi, a student from Alwar. “I cannot step inside the kitchen. I am not allowed any activity.” Even those with more cosmopolitan upbringings are not immune to such attitudes. “If I have massive cramps, the first instinct would be ‘I have a bad headache.’ That’s what I tell the world, “shares Soumya Dabriwal, co-founder of Project Baala. “There’s so much shame associated with it.” The result is a feeling of fear and disgust around periods, affecting girls’ self-worth as they come to associate their bodies and identities with negativity, and further hinders them from talking about health concerns when they arise. Project Baala was founded to provide anyone who menstruates with affordable and sustainable menstrual pads while normalizing conversations about periods. A pad cannot solve the problems around periods, but it can start conversations and challenge mindsets, says Soumya. Project Baala (“Baala” means “girls” in Hindi) works with partners who can sponsor the costs of outreach and distribution drives at schools in India. Aradhana and Soumya train volunteers like Rishita — dubbed “Baala Bosses” — to help conduct these talks and pass on the message of health and empowerment. It has held over 1,100 workshops all over India, and given out 350,000 reusable pads as of June 2022. And it is now extending its impact by employing women from rural areas to sell Baala pads as a low-cost option. This creates an income stream for women in areas where livelihood opportunities are limited, while continuing to spread awareness of menstrual hygiene. Sita Sharma is Project Baala’s first associate from Alwar. “Menstruation is a woman’s identity. What is there to hide about periods?” she says, noting that her husband and sons have become comfortable when she mentions her periods. She employs the same no-holds-barred charm when sharing about Project Baala with women in her village. “If you feel these pads can change your life, then you must take a step towards that change. Only you can pave that change for your daughters,” she says during one sharing session.