BE FREE; Happy Period with Sanitary Napkins!!
Namaste !
Warm Greetings from RSKS India .....
If you are from India, chances are that
the word ‘menstruation’ conjures up an uncomfortable image in your
mind. This is because menstruation is a forbidden topic and is not
discussed openly in India due to the stigma associated with it. In many
parts of India, menstruating women are considered to be unclean. They
are not allowed to enter the kitchen, visit temples or auspicious
functions. Dasra, an NGO,did a report in 2014 titled Spot On!, which
found that70% of the mothers, predominantly in rural and among lower
income classes, consider menstruation as ‘dirty’ and most of them are
not aware of what menstruation really is. It is little surprise then
that most rural or urban poor girls, would not have heard of
menstruation before they reach menarche, the onset of menstruation.
The chronic lack of awareness about
menstruation has led to the prevalence of unhygienic practices in
dealing with menstruation even today. A study conducted by AC Nielsen
revealed that an astounding 88% percentage of women in India uses
unhygienic methods such as clothes, ashes and sand for protection
during menstruation. Those who have access to sanitary hygiene products
are a mere 12% of the 355 million menstruating women in India. In
rural India this figure is abysmally low at 2-3%. You may find such
statistics startling to encounter inthe 21st century.However, the
reality is that several women resort to using pads made of clothes
which are washed and reused during menstruation. This practice, in
itself, may not be unhygienic if the clothes are washed properly and
dried completely. However, most of the women do not know the correct
way in which to wash these clothes. Also, as it is forbidden for men to
see menstrual clothes, often these clothes are not dried in the open
and are reused when they are still damp or moist. In addition, surveys
have found that often times these clothes are shared by multiple women.
There are also cases where women were found to use even more shocking
methods such as filling used socks with sand and tying them around
their waist for absorption of menstrual blood. Needless to say, such
habits lead to easily avoidable health issues. Not using proper
menstrual protection leads to incidents of reproductive tract infections
being 70% more common in these women. In several cases, there are more
severe consequences to such unhealthy habits. Lack of menstrual
hygiene is the primary causeof two thirds of the approximately 60,000
cervical cancer related deaths reported annually in India.
Other factors that drive the adoption of
unhygienic practices among women, apart from lack of awareness, are
the affordability and accessibility of sanitary products. 70% of the
women surveyed in the Nielsen study said buying sanitary napkins is
beyond the means of their families. Clothes are affordable
alternatives, especially because they can be reused. The lack of demand
also leads to napkins and other feminine hygiene products not being
stocked by shops in rural India, making the availability of these
productsdifficult even forthe discerning few. The impact this has on
younger women in particular, is horrifying. Lack of proper protection
keeps girls aged between 12 and 18 out of school for 5 days per month
on an average, which amounts to a total of 60 days per year. The Dasra
report also found that nearly 23 million girls drop out of school after
the start of menstruation.
RSKS India has launched a program for
promoting menstrual hygiene by providing sanitary pads to women and
girlsfrom poor and rural areas. As part of this program, RSKS is
reaching out to several slums to educate women about menstrual health.A
team from RSKS India visited these slums and trained the women with
the help of charts and diagrams so that they can understand the
importance of sanitary products.The women activists of the organisation
made them aware of the harmful effects and diseases caused by not
using sanitary pads and convinced them to use these pads to ensure safe
and hygienic menstruation.The organisation has distributed sanitary
pads to more than 2500 rural & urban women and girls in different
villages and slums till date.
Addressing menstruation related issues
need to start with the education of the society at large and women in
particular. It is important that girls understand menstruation and the
importance of menstrual hygiene before they reach menarche.
Menstruation should be destigmatised through awareness programs. A
civilized society has no place for such antiquated taboos. It is
reprehensible that for such a large percentage of women in India,
menstruation, which is just another biological process, is an
obstruction to education, health and hygiene which are fundamental
human rights. You have an opportunity to play a role in ensuring that
all women of India have equal access to their wellbeing and above all, a
dignified life by contributing to this program. Donations can be made
to this program at
Thanks & Regarding
Nisha Radhakrishnan
RSKS India's Volunteer
https://www.rsksindia.ngo
rsksindiaorg@gmail.com
टिप्पणियाँ
एक टिप्पणी भेजें