Ignorance on periods can be fatal. By sharing good Menstrual Hygiene Management practices, the media connects many to solutions they can adapt and scale up
It was just beginning to get dark in her village when Gauri came out of her house. After furtive glances to make sure no one was around, she quickly pulled out a wet piece of cloth she was hiding behind her back and hung it to dry on a nearby bush. Next morning just as dawn was breaking, Gauri removed the cloth although it was still damp. She didn’t want anyone to know she was in the middle of “those days.” In her hurry she didn’t notice the tiny insect atop the cloth. This was to prove fatal. A few days later, she died because of infection that spread from her vaginal tract.
Why is this story important? It is significant because every life is valuable and by telling it, the media brings to the fore the reality that still exists. The fact that lives get tragically cut short by preventable causes underlines the need for more such stories to be told. Had menstruation not been something to hide or be ashamed of, Gauri would have been alive. Ignorance can be just as fatal. Like it was for Meera who died from tetanus caused by a rusty hook on the old blouse she used during her periods. Everyone was told that it was tetanus that led to her death. Only her sister who had lent the blouse later understood the root cause of her death. Both the women knew that the hooks were rusted but didn’t think it was important or that they would matter.
Only 48 per cent of rural women use hygienic methods of menstrual protection according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4). How 52 per cent of rural women cope with “those days” is not known. What is known is that women often use the dirtiest cloth in the house during their menstrual cycle. This cloth is reused many times without proper washing. Sometimes, two or three women in a household use the same piece of cloth. Poor menstrual hygiene can kill and yet talking about it still remains taboo.
Recently the Centre for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness (CHETNA) an Ahmedabad-based not-for-profit working for women’s empowerment, conducted a survey in six districts in Gujarat to study the levels of menstrual awareness and methods being followed. Their findings revealed that of about 600 females between the ages 13-35 interviewed, 67 per cent believed that periods should be kept a secret and 29 per cent adolescent girls and women reported that they feel ashamed talking about it. A majority (60 per cent) felt the blood was impure and 65 per cent felt “unclean.” So, women and girls were forced to hide all signs of it.
In such a scenario, the media has an important to play. By sharing this kind of data through their stories, it can help organisations working in the field tweak communications programmes to adapt to the situation. This has been done in the Ramapur gram panchayat in Varanasi. In an attempt to buck the trend of adolescent girls missing or leaving school due to period-related issues in Uttar Pradesh, a programme by Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna, a non-profit organisation, used the Hindi version of Menstrupedia, a novel comic book and guide to periods for young girls that dispels myths, to educate and empower 7,309 young women’s self-help groups. With each such group boasting a membership of 10-12 unmarried girls, aged 13-21, it was able to reach out to a huge number. This led to young girls questioning myths related to periods, especially why they shouldn’t touch the pickle during those days. In addition to touching the pickle and busting the myth that it would be contaminated, the Ramapur group even persuaded the principal of the local school to install an incinerator for safe disposal of sanitary pads. This was a huge achievement because it was the first of its kind in the panchayat. Stories like these show it is possible to break the silence on periods. Just as stories on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) innovations on low-cost, good quality and bio-degradable menstrual hygiene products or machines that can be used by self-help groups to manufacture sanitary napkins locally help to showcase last mile delivery for those who tend to fall through the cracks. The innovative tactile book and apron of the reproductive system that helps visually-impaired girls navigate puberty are a boon for over 24 lakh women with visual disabilities.
If the silence and stigma around menstruation make it hard for women with sight to manage their periods, it becomes far more challenging for the visually-impaired. The fact that girls are often pressured by their families to have their uterus removed so that they stop menstruating underlines the importance of this innovation. It was developed by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) in collaboration with IIT-Delhi, the Centre of Excellence in Tactile Graphics, Saksham Trust, and the Noida Deaf Society. The media also plays a critical role in raising awareness about how menstrual waste is contributing to increasing environmental hazards. Over 113,000 tonnes of such waste are created every year and can take over 250 years to fully decompose. Lack of proper disposal facilities means this waste clogs the urban sewage systems, piles up in landfills and contaminates rural ponds.
The Government, realising the importance of MHM, began distribution of low-cost sanitary napkins through health workers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2010. Official data reveals that 42 per cent of women use sanitary napkins (NFHS-4). But, just how environment-friendly are these sanitary napkins? Also are there proper disposal and waste management facilities? By raising such questions, the media highlights not just the environmental costs of the absence of such facilities but also the possibilities of putting the health of girls and women at risk of infections due to overuse of menstrual hygiene products. By sharing good MHM practices, the media connects many to solutions they can adapt and scale up. The initiative taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is one example of how good implementation can work wonders. The PMC’s decision to support SWaCH, India’s first cooperative of self-employed waste collectors and other urban poor, in managing solid waste collection has ensured both the environment and the health of these workers are not compromised. Since SWaCH waste-pickers handle about 20 metric tonnes of household sanitary waste every day, the need to manually segregate the degradable and bio-degradable waste leads to several infections. PMC asked SWaCH to make paper bags to give to households to dispose used sanitary napkins and actively promoted their usage. Households were also made aware of how unwrapped sanitary waste exposed them to multiple deadly pathogens.
In addition, a system for scientific disposal of such paper bags was put in place by designating three locations across the city, where 600 to 900 pieces of sanitary napkins are scientifically disposed daily at each location. A system of collection, transportation and disposal has been especially developed.
So just as the media highlights such good practices, it also looks at MHM holistically with the help of information, evidence and data, both official and that generated by robust research by non-governmental organisations. In doing so if it requires the media to ring the alarm bells, it doesn’t step away from doing so.
The story on how hysterectomies became the norm in Beed, Maharashtra, because cane-cutting contractors were unwilling to hire women as periods hinder work is one such example. There are no bathrooms for cane cutters who often live in cane fields. It becomes even more difficult for a woman if she has periods in these conditions. The story led to national outrage with the National Commission for Women issuing a notice and the State Government instructing surgeons not to conduct hysterectomy unnecessarily. Such cases underline once again the critical role of the media, and seeing it as an ally and not an adversary, benefits all.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
