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Fighting Stigmas


A pair of socks, yesterday’s newspaper and a handful of ashes - what do these things possibly have in common? For women who don’t have access to affordable menstrual products, they’re meager alternatives to pads.

Girls often face economic, educational, and social barriers in accessing period products. In India, only 12% out of 355 million women use period products and this number is even lower in rural communities. This is in part due to the cost; if a family can barely afford food or the home they live in, it’s easy to see how sanitary products are moved down on the list of priorities. This is the unfortunate reality that many households in India face.

Unsanitary period practices are accompanied by a host of physical health consequences. This includes urinary tract infections, human papillomavirus (HPV) and in extreme cases, incontinence or cervical cancer. Indian women account for one-fourth of the world’s cervical cancer diagnoses. Although the causal relationship between unsanitary period practices and cervical cancer is not established, it is well known that HPV leads to cervical cancer.

Moreover, in certain rural Indian communities, health education is rare, leading to generations of girls and even mothers who are unaware of what periods are and how to properly take care of themselves. According to a study conducted by The British Medical Journal, girls miss an average of 5 days of school per month once they start menstruating, leaving them far behind their peers academically. Even if girls did have access to period products, many schools don’t have adequate facilities such as toilets or even running water. Girls aren’t being educated about their bodies, and when they do get their periods, they don’t have access to the resources. This cycle ultimately leads to almost 1 in 4 girls dropping out at or around the time they start menstruating.

However, the consequences of periods extend far beyond physical health. Many women experience feelings of guilt, shame and anxiety because of the existing stigma regarding menstruation. Though many of us at SU have had the privilege of some level of health education and the resources to follow, menstruation is still a cultural taboo in the United States too. We keep our pads out of sight, run home in a panic when we bleed through, and don’t dare have a conversation about periods in public. Girls in India face this - and more.

Several people believe that periods are “unclean” and by extension, girls on their period are “impure”. Though Hinduism along with other predominant cultures in India value and worship women, many rural and urban households practice illogical customs. One common belief is that if a menstruating girl touches a plant, it will die. Another such belief is that if girls enter the kitchen or prepare meals, they will contaminate the food. Other restrictions on menstruating girls range from being banned from entering religious places to even being isolated in period huts called gaokors. The practice of isolating girls on their periods called chhaupadi has been known to be linked to Hindu and Nepali cultures. These spaces are isolated from the community and often lack electricity, kitchens, and beds. This is shameful. Every girl has the right to an education, health and dignity every single day. This commitment doesn’t take a break one week each month.

The Menstrual Information Network Teaching Empowerment (MINTE) Project hopes to change this perception and attitude. Founded by Raashi Thakkar and backed by The Clinton Foundation, the MINTE Project at Syracuse University is one of over 20 chapters across the United States that aims to provide girls with the support they need to empower them to take charge of menstrual health and wellness and lead their lives with dignity. As a new organization joining the Syracuse community, we will host fundraisers and menstrual product drives across campus. These resources will go directly to girls in India who need them the most. We will be developing a health education curriculum that we hope to be implemented in the summer of 2019. Every girl deserves an education, and we aim to make that happen by addressing 10,000 periods.

We need to equip girls with the tools to take care of themselves, so that we can reduce menstrual related absenteeism across India. Most importantly, we need to be advocates for girls who don’t share many of the same privileges we do and unravel the longstanding stigma surrounding periods.

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