By Anshu Gupta | Project Leader
“What are you girls talking about!? We can’t change our traditions..our practices!! We have been following these for ages now..” said an elderly woman, in an annoyed tone.. She was speaking at a menstrual awareness session held by Goonj.. She refused to discuss any menstrual taboos and practices and soon left the room. This complete closure to even talk about menstrual practices by elderly women, who many a times are the decision makers, about such practices shows the depth of the stigma young girls and women face very month.
Such incidences give only a glimpse of the many layers of shame and silence in which a woman’s menstruation is tightly wrapped. In an attempt to educate women Goonj recently conducted ‘Not Just a Piece of Cloth’ (NJPC) Break the Silence awareness sessions on menstruation with 201 women in Akoli, Borsheti, Nihe and Katale village (One session in each village) of Maharashtra.
Women of all ages were present; from 70-year-old grannies to 15-year-old teens. In the beginning everyone was a bit anxious and shy to speak on the “taboo” subject, but Goonj team slowly succeeded in making them comfortable. Once settled, they opened up and shared their stories, their current knowledge, practices and challenges. “I got scared when I got my first period..my mother never told me anything ..and I had no one to talk to..I would try to use whatever I could find to stop the blood..it was horrible..” shared one woman. Almost every women present had gone through a similar experience at the time of their first period. The harrowing silence and deep shame around the subject was shared by a woman who was forced to forced to sleep on a separate bed and was treated like filth during those days, “..a separate bed..a plate, glass and a matka (earthen pot)..I was asked to bring my own water in my makta.. I was not allowed to touch the well too and had to collect water from the puddles.”
It is tragic that such humiliating practices are still prevalent in many households in villages and even cities. This isolation during menses often scars the self-esteem and self respect of women for life.
Young women, who had never followed regressive menstrual practices at their parental home, described the mental torture of facing the same at their In-laws place. A 20 year old married woman shared, “I am not allowed in the kitchen..in the temple..not allowed to touch tulsi..not allowed to touch grain stock, pickles and not even my own child..”. Another woman added, “During periods, I remove my bangles..the clinking sound is inauspicious..and can harm my husband.”
Most women of the village also talked about the monthly struggle of finding a piece of cloth! “All day we work in field..we use one piece of cloth all day..can’t afford another to change..” shared one young woman who works as a daily wager in the rice field. Most women said Goonj’s ‘My Pad’ is a savior because they would end up using any kind of cloth, leaving them susceptible to various infections, “We use cloth but we use any kind of cloth..finding such cloth (MY Pad cloth)is very difficult for us..” said one of the women.
The sessions ended on a positive note while most women shared that such sessions provided them the space and platform to open up their hearts. Most said that it was the first time they were speaking up and sharing their stories. “Nobody has ever talked about it like this in our village..we should organize more such meetings..” said one woman. “Such rules and restrictions should go..I will not let my daughter go through the same..” added another voice. These stories are a painful mirror of what millions of women are facing every month. Our aim is to normalize the subject of menstruation – make it a human issue instead of a women’s issue. For that we all need to break the silence around it and ensure that a woman’s dignity is not hurt every month for this natural biological process.
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By Sneha Dey | Project Contributor
By Sneha Dey | Project Contributor
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