HUMAN RIGHTS
Hey hey! Ho ho! Period Poverty Has Got to Go.
On bringing social change.
There was a sudden feeling of disgust when I saw blood. Blood in the sanitary pad that my wife had thrown in the trash bin in the bathroom.
If there is one thing I have learned from making many mistakes in the past, it is to challenge my emotions before I act. So before I wanted to yell out her name, I paused and reflected.
Why do I feel disgusted?
Then I related myself to the men in my own village in rural far-western Nepal, where I am co-heading a social project with my wife, to provide free menstrual pads to women.
We are doing this project through Metta Valley, a US-based non-profit organization that we have just started. Metta means “compassion” in the Pali language.
Perhaps this feeling of “disgust” lies at the core of the “period stigma” that women live with all around the world.
In Far-Western Nepal…
Although I wasn’t born and raised in my village, my visit there during the last 2 years made me aware of the women’s situation, especially in terms of their menstrual health.
Social norms in rural far-western Nepal dictate that women are impure during menstruation. Therefore they are isolated during this period, often times being forced to live in dingy huts or cowsheds. Such practice has led to cases of rapes and death through snakebites.
Due to a lack of access to healthy sanitary products, women use unclean fabrics during menstruation. This makes them unable to live normally, hence exacerbating the prejudice that already exists.
Yes, people (both men and women) feel “disgusted” to see women’s blood during menstruation.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. This is why my wife and I started this project to eradicate “period poverty” in our village.
The Period Poverty
Period poverty is defined as being unable to access sanitary products and having poor knowledge of menstruation often due to financial and social constraints.
We believe, there can be an end to this.
Villages in far-western Nepal have little or no access to menstrual products. Due to the period poverty and the stigma around it, women suffer during menstruation physically, emotionally, and socially.
Women and girls are disempowered when they live in communities with social norms that stigmatize women for their very nature that makes them women (menstruation). They should not have to be embarrassed about something that is natural and biological.
After all, the human race would not be “birthed” without the women’s reproductive system.
In a recent survey done by our non-profit in 4 communities in far-western Nepal, girls between 13–19 years of age have reported they get sick and feel mistreated by their own families that due to period poverty and stigma.
For instance, they are expected to eat only after everybody else in the family has eaten, often leaving them with very little food to eat. Also, they aren’t given normal nutritious food like yogurt during menstruation.
Stigmatize a girl once she reaches puberty, and you shatter her entire womanhood!
The stigma needs to be fought, shattered, and won. If governments and agencies can provide free condoms, they should be able to provide hygienic products for menstruation as well. Menstrual justice is a right.
Eradicating period poverty in one village of far-western Nepal is a major goal of our non-profit, Metta Valley.
The PADS Project
Our current project is focused on women’s menstrual health in my village in Bajhang district, Nepal. There are 173 women in this village and they do not have access to menstrual pads.
We recently provided 150 reusable, eco-friendly menstrual pads to 50 women in the village to see if this would significantly impact their lives.
If this brings about the change we are seeking, then our goal is to provide at least 5 pads to all of the 173 women in the village by March 2021.
Then we will work to make this model sustainable — through awareness, behavior changes, and support network.
Conclusion
Women have to take a leadership role for any community to progress — this evidence is crystal clear, all over the world.
Period poverty and the stigma around it disempower women, making them unable to take leadership roles. This is why period poverty has got to go.
One village at a time.
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Upen Singh writes about people and progress. He is interested in making lives better.
Having traveled to over 25 countries he is always seeking new adventures to learn from and share. He has an M.A. in Developmental Economics from West Virginia University.
He lives in Thailand, Nepal, and the United States, constantly traveling. He is currently involved in a rural development project in far-west Nepal.
