'Am I dying?"
'Have I got cancer?'
'Have I done something wrong?'
'Whom do I talk to? Definitely not at home!'
'My parents will be ashamed of me!'
'What is this dirty thing?'
Would you be surprised if we told you that all these are the possible responses that a woman might give when asked about her experience of her first period? If it does, don't be. This is not uncommon.
If the one time scare was all that was there to the problem, it would have been okay, we guess. However, we are sure that you are sure that the problem does not end there. The lack of understanding about a process that is just as natural as respiration or digestion leads to life long side effects. Stigmatization, lowered self-esteem, deprivation and ridicule are just some of the ones that we can think of, off the top of our heads.
'Have I got cancer?'
'Have I done something wrong?'
'Whom do I talk to? Definitely not at home!'
'My parents will be ashamed of me!'
'What is this dirty thing?'
Would you be surprised if we told you that all these are the possible responses that a woman might give when asked about her experience of her first period? If it does, don't be. This is not uncommon.
If the one time scare was all that was there to the problem, it would have been okay, we guess. However, we are sure that you are sure that the problem does not end there. The lack of understanding about a process that is just as natural as respiration or digestion leads to life long side effects. Stigmatization, lowered self-esteem, deprivation and ridicule are just some of the ones that we can think of, off the top of our heads.
Perhaps the extent
of the taboo, especially in Indian context has been beautifully captured in
this article by Disha Madhok, featured in
Quartz (India). One does not need data to acknowledge the
widespread prevalence of the taboo. However, Just to be
sure, we, too, conducted our survey. We approached 100 government school
girls in the rural regions of Udaipur, Rajasthan. Here is what we found:
Times are changing, you say? Well, yes, we agree times are indeed changing. However, the change always begins in the cities. And by the time it comes to visit the actual India, it is a long long time. For instance, consider this. In a lot of villages from which we collected the sample, electricity has not yet made its presence. And yes, this article was written in 2015.Therefore, it worries us that the women will have to wait a long, long time before they get the right to dignified periods.
And we, as Piramal Fellows, want to try to set the ball rolling. We believe that if we can reach out to 10 schools, we will be setting an example for not only the coming batches of fellows but also for rest of the schools.
And we, as Piramal Fellows, want to try to set the ball rolling. We believe that if we can reach out to 10 schools, we will be setting an example for not only the coming batches of fellows but also for rest of the schools.