In Jhakloi village, women are learning what periods are

Fourteen-year-old Chakori cannot have meals in the common room with her brothers for five days every month. Despite all the body ache and discomfort, she washes her clothes by hand, including the bed covers, and is not allowed to enter the kitchen area, even to fetch food for herself. A black polythene tied to the window of the toilet, for all to see, is an indicator that a woman in the house has her periods. 

Like Chakori, many young girls in rural areas of the country are still treated as impure during their periods. This conditioning affects their self esteem and body-image. Lack of information, paucity of discussion and the burden of tradition is still carried by this involuntary natural process.

A team of young volunteers from UK have arrived in Rajasthan to dispel this burden through health, education, and civil participation. The Pravah ICS program, funded by the UK government in partnership with the NGO Pravah, helps self-development of young people. “This is our third International batch working in rural Rajasthan to help women learn about menstrual health,” says Nida Ansari, a program co-ordinator with Pravah.

The volunteers have been living in Jakhloi village near Ajmer for 11 weeks and have organized several health camps. “It was shocking to see that women do not know much about their own bodies,” says Sophie, a graduate from Leeds University. “They know nothing about the menstruation process and most of the young girls say, “It happens to my mother, and grandmother, thus happens to me too.” 

The women in Jakhloi, like most of rural India, use a piece of cloth over and over again as a sanitary napkin. It’s not only for frugality; its also to bypass the shame of a used sanitary napkin being seen. Such unhygienic practices lead to health problems, never mind the self-loathing. 

Ashley, another Pravah volunteer adds, “These women have a fear of the ‘unknown’. They do not appreciate their own bodies. We have weekly sessions called ‘My body, my rights’ where they can come, talk, and ask questions.” Ashley believes such conversations could empower these women.

Divya, the program leader, organizes weekly sessions called ‘Kiran’ with a group of 25 adolescent girls to break the taboos around menstrual health. “They are being conditioned that periods are a bad thing,” says Divya. The taboos they fight are not illiteracy-based, but caste-based too.

The next step is to reach out to the men of the community. “The issues will remain if men are not included in these discussions,” says Sophie. “The women use euphemisms for body parts when talking around men. We are planning to include men in these workshops to eradicate this taboo, but as of now, we are happy to see the shy women of Jakhloi coming to the sessions.”