Author: Maneeza Khan, teen menstrual health advocate
I was in school when I first got my period. Fortunately, my family had open conversations about menstruation, so I was aware of what was happening to my body. However, what happened afterward changed my outlook.
When I went to the infirmary to ask for spare pads, the nurse immediately quieted me down and told me in a hushed voice to follow her. As she opened the storage door to retrieve a sanitary pad, I saw that the bundle of pads was wrapped in a black polythene bag in the innermost corner. Walking out of the infirmary with a sanitary pad in my pocket (as advised by the nurse), I wondered what was so dishonorable about menstruation that made her treat it like this.
Now, ponder on these questions. Have you ever been in a situation when you were talking about your period to your mother when, suddenly, your father walked into the room, and your conversation immediately stopped? Or have you faced the paranoia of hiding your sanitary pads in your school bag and being extra careful not to wear white clothes when menstruating? These incidents are something that millions of girls have gone through, especially those coming from Indian households.
Menstruation is a source of empowerment of our identity, yet to date, this phenomenon is still considered taboo in India. In our country, periods have long been considered impure, so discrimination against menstruating women is widespread. For instance, menstruating women are often excluded from social and religious events, denied entry into religious places like temples and shrines, and even kept out of kitchens.
“These taboos have severe ramifications on girls’ and women’s emotional state, mentality and lifestyle, and most importantly, health. ”
Most importantly, it leads to an increasingly common and dangerous phenomenon in India and around the world.
Period poverty.
Period poverty is the struggle that many menstruators face while trying to afford menstrual products due to economic vulnerability, lack of awareness, and poor hygiene standards. According to one study, 71% of adolescent girls in India are unaware of menstruation until they get it themselves. Another study showed that only 36% of India’s 355 million menstruating females use sanitary napkins, while the rest use old rags, husk, ash, and other life-threatening materials to manage their flows. These studies, firstly, show the lack of preparedness that parents provide to their young daughters for their menstruation and, secondly, the increasing presence of period poverty in India due to the lack of access and affordability to safe menstrual hygiene amenities.
So many of us are privileged to have access to menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) products and even speak freely about our periods. But this is not a reality for nearly 25% of all menstruators worldwide.
My privilege is the reason why I became a firm menstrual health advocate. I spearheaded Project Full Stop in my community, visiting women's shelters and NGOs to host menstruation awareness sessions among rural girls and women and distributing MHH products among them. At school, I refused to have hushed conversations about menstruation with my friends and instead encouraged them to speak freely about them. I also attended the 66th Session of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW66) as a Girl Delegate of Girls Learn International and advocated for menstrual hygiene and safe and secure access to MHH products at the United Nations.
Here are some ways you can help tackle period poverty:
Urge your local and national governments to build programs that take a uniquely comprehensive approach and address all the issues around periods: awareness, product production, and product distribution.
Choose menstruation products from brands that support ending period poverty and donate to charities that fight to end period poverty. Even better, start buying fully biodegradable and sustainable MHH products! August is my personal favorite for sustainable period care products, and they even donate a part of their profits to fight period poverty in underserved communities!
Start your initiative in your community to tackle period poverty! You can host theatre performances and workshops in rural communities to raise awareness about menstruation creatively, or you can distribute menstrual hygiene kits to rural communities and schools that lack such commodities.
Sign petitions, attend marches and events, and get more involved in menstrual advocacy in your communities!
Finally, education is the single most powerful way to defeat period poverty. However, this education is not the typical classroom education where theoretical knowledge is the primary basis. Education should include discussion on Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) practices and interdisciplinary areas like Sex Education, safe usage of contraceptives, and family planning.
“Revolutionary changes like these will ensure that young menstruators are not shunned for a natural biological process and feel empowered and proud.”
It is time to normalize conversations around menstruation and talk freely about them in our communities. Include non-menstruators like male-identifying people in these conversations, as only then can we break the secrecy and societal barriers enshrouding these conversations. It is time for transformation.
Menstrautors, you deserve to put yourself first. Period.
Maneeza Khan is a 16-year-old SRHR and menstrual health advocate from India. She is the co-Founder of The Elpis Organisation, a nonprofit that has made STEM Education accessible to over 4000+ underprivileged youth in India. Maneeza was chosen as a Girl Delegate to the CSW66 on behalf of Girls Learn International and represented girl voices at UN advocacy events hosted by NGO CSW/NY, AGIP, and UN Women.
She aspires to pursue the pre-med track in college along with gender studies, and she wishes to become an emergency physician for UNICEF in the future!