Menstruation talks still a taboo but awareness group fights on

When Suridhi Sharma and her team decided to organise a workshop on menstrual health in a government school of a Haryana village, they were not ready for the experience that followed. The teachers went up in arms against the Good Samaritans for being "so open" about "it", and told them to reserve such interactions for students of private schools.

That is when it dawned on the Co-founder of NGO RaSTAFdn (Rationalism, Secularism, and Transparency Appeal Foundation) that taking forward their mission was going to be an uphill task as it involved challenging deep-rooted orthodoxy, lack of transparency in government and politics, and creating an education system bereft of any moral, political, or other agendas.

But not the one to give up, the team is currently holding similar sessions in Azadpur. "Having access to correct information is the key to prevent child sexual abuse and to promote gender sensitisation," she said.

RaSTAFdn is the brainchild of Sharma, who is pursuing MPhil in Gender Studies, and Pulkeet Mehra, who has worked with the non-profit sector in the US and the UK. The foundation recently launched the programme #DissectingTheChapter (DTC), through which it is trying to dispel the shame and taboo associated with sex education in schools, where often the chapter related to the subject is entirely skipped.

According to the team, talking about the natural biological process of menstruation is still considered offensive, and even private schools in Delhi have sometimes turned them down.

"The ground reality is that teachers themselves feel uncomfortable. I still remember how I was chided by the biology teacher in a village school for polluting the minds of children, just because we showed them sanitary pads and tampons. Our team is mostly youngsters and teenagers, who can interact better with the children, since they are a peer group," Sharma said, adding that the foundation has interns from the Delhi University as well to assist them in the task.

Legal awareness and cultural diplomacy are some of the other focus areas of the group that has brought on board lawyers from the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court to help them with research. The collected data will ultimately be utilised in several formats, ranging from mobile apps focusing on instant feedback regarding legal issues, problems in dealing with government or municipal bodies, on-the-spot advice, how to proceed when and if faced by official blocks, and online and in-person sessions.

RaSTAFdn has also been working with the Consulate of Montenegro in India as the mission's non-profit partner in handling their Indo-Montenegro Friendship Initiative. Talking about the initiative, Mehra said: "We have tied up with over 35 schools in the National Capital Region (NCR) to promote cultural diplomacy among students of Class VI-XII, under the 'Building Bridges Through Art and Diplomacy' programme. We focus on non-traditional methods of learning and providing students with the ability to research and transform their knowledge."

Another programme involves promotion of skill development using GNU+Linux open source software in fields ranging from graphic design, video making, game and app development and coding, among various communities, especially the marginalised sections.

"Our organisation aims to improve education system in government schools and in communities with less access to technology and fact-based knowledge, where moral agendas and regressive ideals take precedence over fact-based research. I have studied in many different schools abroad, and want to replicate their models through RaSTA," Mehra said.