'Let's Talk Period'
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‘LET’S TALK PERIOD’ Authored by: Dr. Deepali Bhardwaj, Surbhi Guleria ,Hifza Rehman and Shalini Maji It is rightly said that you can’t end racism and inequality without addressing sexism. We claim to be free of all biasis and treat everyone equally without any prejudices but the on ground reality is that even in this 21st century , both men and women are not equal. Feminist movements have made a gigantic strides over the years but the word “FEMINISM” still remains a controversial one.Women are still looked down upon and are considered to the inferior sex in comparision to men. According to the Human Rights Commision ,“the widespread stigma and shame surrounding menstruation and menstrual hygiene by ensuring access to factual information thereon, addressing the negative social norms around the issue and ensuring universal access to hygienic products and gender-sensitive facilities, including disposal options for menstrual products.” MENSTRUATION is an inevitable part of a female’s life but sadly rather than considering it to be only as a biological function it is often perceived another basis for gender discrimination. The first period can be meet with either celebration , fear or concern. For every girl ,this signifies an important transition to womanhood. In this time they need support but what they get is shame and exclusion. Women’s experience during menstruation differ greatly depending on which area of the world they are living in. It’s significance varies substantially among different cultures and religious groups and socio economic status. Developed countries tend to have a wider availibality of feminine hygiene products such as tampons ,menstrual cups , pads and panty liners unlike developing nations even in 2018. On others areas like parts of South Africa , India , South East Asia assess to menstrual products is varied women in these areas typically use reuseable cloth but do not always have faclilities or a proper cleaning product and have several taboos but No matter where a girl grows up in the world, there is a very good chance that she will be inundated with endless myths and misconceptions about menstruation as not a bodily function with the execption of child birth, but a misrepresentated and ubiquitoushy taboo. There are over 5,000 euphemisms for menstruation world wide and in some cultures the girls are not getting education about how to manage their periods. Negative attitudes towards menstruation are often continued into adulthood. 58% of women in America stated that they have felt embaressment in their periods almost every time. Period poverty has affected many developed countries leading to an arisal of a lot of issues. In Kenya and Uganda, some girls are even pressured into sex in return of sanitary products. Period poverty impacts the right to education , health and dignity as well. It’s sound extremely horrible right? but the truth is that the ground condition is even worse as we found on anonymous facebook survey. With an average women going through almost 350 periods (where 4 days is equal to 1 ) in her lifetime, 70% of them suffer with some or other kind of disease due to lack of proper care in those 5 days. Infections caused by periods include Menorrhagia, Dysmenorrhea, Amenorrhea, Hypomenorrhea, Menometrorrhagia, Menstrual Psychosis, Catamennial pneumothorax, Hypergonadism along with many others. Now there is a shift in the thinking pattern where people have risen up from the deep rooted shameful culture and started to accept it as just a biological function and started to counter the pre existing social evils. In CHINA only 2% of women who menstruate use tampon because of the myth that by using tampons one can loose their virginity. [1]. In countries like NEPAL a practice called ‘CHHAUPADI’ has been banned because it entailed banning any female who’s menstruating outside their home , as they are considered to be “IMPURE” during that period of time. [2] WSSCC and the United Nations Entity for Gernder Equality and Women’s Empowerment are strenghthening policies in health, hygiene and sanitation for women and girls in West and Central Africa. In KENYA , a very controversial situation took place recenty when Mayor Herman Mashabha tweeted that the government is trying to encourage sexual orientations amongst young girls by distributing sanitary napkins. [3] However this statement faced a lot of criticisms but it gives an idea about how even today, people have some bizarre knowledge about menstruation. The US house passed the MENSTRUAL EQUALITY BILL allowing tampons and pads to be purchased under flexible health spending accounts. In the other parts of the world like MALAYSIA , the finance Minister LIM GUAN ENG became the country’s hero after reducing the GST on sanitary napkins to complete 0 percent. [4] A world wide Movement took place after this landmark step taken by LIM GUANG and there was a whole new wave where people started protesting for tax free pads. Another countries like South Africa, Canada, Nigeria ,Australia, India and Lebanon have also exempted taxes from sanitary napkins. There is a new era of hope that’s slowly and steadily emerging where the world is starting to have an open conversation about Menstruational Hygiene and this is no more an indoor talks. Developing countries like INDIA have came up with new alternatives like oxo biodegrable pads at subsidized rates in order to make sure that nobody is deprived to any sanitation facilty. However majority of the people’s mindset is still the same and needs to worked upon . MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY is an annual awareness day observed on May 28 to highlight the importance of good Menstrual Hygiene Management . The theme for 2018 Menstrual Hygiene Day was “#NoMoreLimits”. PERIODS are no big deal , it’s just a bodily function so we need to stop this taboo to grow any further. We need to talk , discuss, and express our opinions otherwise there is no point calling ourselves globally responsible citizens. It’s clear that the way we talk about menstruation is slow to change because of how deeply menstrual taboos are ingrained in our cultures, beliefs, and society. The societies which give us our understanding of our bodies were formed around these taboos. Changing taboos requires the system to change. And remember we form the system. Menstruation Bill is the need of the hour and it is very important for the developing countries to pass this bill to establish equality the Right to equality and Health to all . MENSTRUAL HYGIENE RELATED PRODUCTS USED BY WOMEN IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TAMPONS AND MENSTRUAL CUPS PADS PANTI LINERS ,VAGINAL COVER ,SAAFKINS REFRENCES 1- https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2017-09-30/menstrual- cycle-taboo-holds-women-back/8996526 2- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40885748 3- https://ewn.co.za/2019/01/11/mashaba-lambasted-for- suggesting-pads-would-lead-children-to-focus-on-sex 4- https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/08/08/finance -ministry-to-probe-missing-rm18b-in-gst-refunds/1660528 .