"Menstrual Taboo; Pride or a Fault of Women?"
Menstruation is the discharge of blood along with mucosal tissues from the uterus through the way of the vagina. Menstruation is a natural process that starts at the adolescent age in every girl. During this period, various discomforts like menstrual cramps, fatigue, back ache, bloating, mood swings, etc are seen along with the heavy bleeding. It is a cyclic process and occurs every month generally within a cycle of 28-35 days.
Though we know that menstruation is a natural process, it has a splash of black color in the mind of people, especially in the rural area of the western part of Nepal, women/girls are banished to sheds during their menstrual period, which is a tradition known as Chhaupadi. They have to become victims of physical, mental, and social issues. Many factors such as socio-cultural beliefs, lack of awareness, poverty, illiteracy, various rumors, gender inequalities, fear of exclusion and marriage restriction, etc have confined people forced to following such tobacco. Consequently, girls and women during menstruation have to become the victims of menstrual restrictions such as avoiding entering the temple, not attending religious or social gatherings, not touching plants or male members of the family, purifying the bed on the fourth day of menstruation, etc. mostly the vulnerable group are lower incomes women as they have to suffer the most, reflecting gender, racial and social disparities.
Every sunset gives the hope of the sunrise, interest in the issue has sparked initiatives to educate women/girls and the general population about menstruation in an attempt to reduce stigma and misconceptions with adequate healthcare.
Although various interventions to address menstrual taboo have been designed, it has been working only for a short duration of time due to several reasons. Why are girls and women being neglected when they accept and go through the natural process? Why are girls and women deprived of enjoying their willingness and rights due to only the reason of menstruation? The issues must be raised high to the level that it will be reduced and every woman can proudly say “Yes I Bleed”. We need to join our hands together to end such tobacco and to protect women's rights. We need to raise our voices not only from the perspective of women's rights but from the viewpoint of human rights.