By Anshu Gupta | Project Leader
Women across the world face many social, cultural and economic aspects while dealing with their menstruation. With over ten years working on this issue in the remotest of villages in India, we see a close linkage between menstruation and women’s dignity, her body image and confidence. Through our initiative, ‘Not Just a Piece of Cloth’ (NJPC) Goonj has over the years, tried to bring attention to the massive taboo around this basic which is shrouded in a culture of shame and silence. Using surplus cloth from Urban India to make basic cloth sanitary pads Goonj reaches these pads to rural women while using them as a tool to make these women more aware about the related hygiene aspects. This issue has a direct connect with poverty since sanitary pads or even extra cloth becomes unaffordable for many women in India.
Recently at NJPC implementation in five remote tribal villages of Kandhmal, Odisha women spoke about their challenges around affording a piece of cloth to deal with menses. As a result they end up using the same piece of cloth time and again. Their dilemmas and struggles around a piece of cloth are disheartening.
Komal an 18 year old girl from Badagaon village said, “Belonging to a very poor family I tend to use a piece of cloth again and again.” For many like Komal, arranging another piece of cloth to deal with her menses is tough work. Another girl Sumali added, “I purchased a piece of cloth two years ago and I still continue to use it.” A bleak example of how lack of resources leaves them with little options.
Another woman said, “We have no money to purchase cloth, so whenever my period date is approaching I find it is a huge difficulty.” These quotes highlight how poverty has a huge impact on how women deal with their menstrual practices. Here the nearest local market is minimum 15 kms away and there are no local shops where a sanitary cloth/pad is available. These villages do not have public health facility or any exposure or awareness around menstrual hygiene.. A strong culture of shame and silence prevents these women, from even speaking up about their menstrual challenges.
In these five villages (Badagaon, Kudigunja, Mandabadi, Pudapadar, Dabulmaha) more than 600 MY Pads were reached along with awareness session on menstrual hygiene. Atleast these women will not have to struggle for a basic piece of cloth for their menstruation while they understand a bit more about the importance of menstrual hygiene.
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