Menstruation Stigma: Discrimination of Women in India
Valeria Baikova IB Global Politics
April 8, 2019 Mr Hennessy
Menstruation Stigma: Discrimination of Women in India
"Her friends teased her and the teacher beat her. From the next day, she didn't come again"(End the Stigma). This is an obtrude case of discrimination of a female on the cause of menstruation. Menstruation is a biological process that woman all around the world experience, with similar symptoms and equal needs. Regardless, many of those women are not only denied of facilities, sanitary products, and basic education concerning the biological process that occurs in every woman's body, but are also seen as dirty, disgraceful, and an embarrassment. As a consequence to a persistent stigma that prevails in many countries on the account of their cultures and religions. A very prominent country where the menstruation stigma lingers and has negative impacts on women's lives is India. The stigma is most heavily concentrated in the large areas of rural and less economically developed parts of India. Through India's perspective this report uncover the historical origins of the occurrence of such stigma, outline how the stigma creates constant barriers in women's lives, and lastly propose solutions to resolve the stigma.
How did such substantial stigma originate?
The unwillingness to discuss the topic, as well as the placed disgrace upon females who got their period was instigated by the religious books. Many religions and cultures have a negative outlook on the menstruation cycle, and Hinduism is not the only one. The Bible refers to the women as 'impure': "...in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean... whoever touches...shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening"(Leviticus 15, Bible). The Quran implies they dirty and should not be approached, "go apart from women during the monthly course, do not approach them until they are clean" (Quran 2:222). In Judaism, a woman during menstruation is called Niddah and is restricted from many daily activities. Hindu scriptures persuaded that menstrual blood is the product of sin that comes from God, thus bringing forth the ideas of it being impure and dirty.
From Hindus' cultural aspect, the reasoning behind the idea that a woman on her period is considered impure dates back to the "Vedic times", linking the Indra's slaying the Vritras. It is believed that the menstrual flow that appears every month is a part of Indra's guilt of the murder, that women have taken upon themselves. The 'Hinduism center of notions of purity" also accounts for the ongoing stigma. It is believed that any excreted body fluids are a source of pollution, explaining why women are considered to be impure. The cultural and religious beliefs lead many to associate menstruation with a 'disease' or something impure and sinful. Hence, they are not supposed to pray or enter temples, it is believed that no matter how hard or sincerely they talk to God, he will not listen or answer their prayers. They are not allowed to take part in their daily activities or chores, and are only allowed to return to their families and daily chores when they are free from the sin.
Women who are prohibited from entering a temple are incapable of taking a stand and defending themselves. Megha Mohan, an Indian girl, told a story to BBC where the culture and the stigma prevented her from saying her last goodbye to her grandma who has passed away. Megha and her family were in Rameswaram, India, to mourn their grandmother, Megha referred to her as "the glue that kept our transcontinental family close". The whole family came together to follow their Hindu ritual concerning the death of a family member, the chosen temple was Rameswaram, as not only was it a well-known pilgrimage site, but also where their grandmother performed her 'final rites' when their grandfather passed away. The ritual was of high importance for Megha and the family, sadly for Megha, her period and the family's beliefs about it obstructed her from going to the temple to commemorate her passed away grandmother.
On the account of the culture, in many families females are banished from houses and are forced to seek shelter in Gaokars (huts) that are located outside of the village, usually in the forest. The huts are public property and no one takes charge to upkeep them. When a local NGO, Society of People's Action in Rural Services and Health, inspected over 220 Gaokar in the tribal areas they reported that 98% of those lacked a proper place to sleep, or a bathroom. During the rainy season the rain tends to flood the hut from creaks of the poorly made constructions adding on to the burdens of staying in the dreadful hut. The Gaokars are not safe for women and young girls to stay in for days because of such poor conditions, and the wild animals that have nothing stopping them from entering and attacking the females staying in the open hut in the middle of a forest, away from their village.
Certainly, the stigma isn't persistent all over India. In an interview with Rajnee Singh an Indian woman who was born in India, and later moved to Canada. She still has local connections, has witnessed and heard about the neglections women face because of their menstruation. She said that the stigma is fixated in the rural poor areas of India, where people are less educated, there the culture has greater importance over evolution and progress. Because she was raised in an educated and wealthy family she did not experience the stigma. On the contrary, her family had a distinct perspective on it. Getting your menstrual cycle was perceived as an achievement, and was celebrated. " It was sign of maturity. I remember the day it happened. My mom told my aunts who congratulated me. It was embarrassing that so many people knew. But they were happy for me."
Why is the stigma towards menstruation considered such a grave issue?
In order to approach this question, we must first refer to the consequences caused by the stigma and whether they conform to the legitimacy, justice, and equality, all of which fall under the universal human rights. Human rights are rights that all human being are entitled to and cannot be taken away. Legitimacy refers to actions that are considered acceptable in regards to laws. Justice, the fair treatment that is conducted through the rule of law. Equality, the idea that all people are treated the same without discrimination and are provided with the same opportunities.
In India, a process that is biological and natural for every woman to experience creates a tremendous barrier to gender equality, education, job, social status, treatment, all leading to violation of a number of human rights, including rights to health, non-discrimination, and equality.
Violating rights to health and education:
Humans are entitled to "access to health-related education and information, including on sexual and reproductive health" (Understanding Menstrual Hygiene Management and Human Rights). Women in India, receive little to no education about menstruation, resulting in unsanitary use of products.
In a documentary Period. End Of Sentence. focused on women in India, particularly in Hapur District, that is 60 km east from New Delhi. In the documentary, the girls and older women were asked to talk about menstruation. When they heard the topic for conversation the girls would giggle. Nervous, they would say they didn't know what it was. Those who did know were too embarrassed to talk about it. One said, "I'm not supposed to talk about it". Later, the same question was asked to the male citizens of the district. Muddled, they replied "a disease... that women get".
In India, 70% of the girls have no prior knowledge about menstruation before getting their first period. That is 200 million out of 355 million women who do not know how to properly care for themselves during their period. The lack of knowledge or assistance from others creates a heavy burden for the girls who start experiencing their menstrual cycle. Consequently, it has been reported that 82% of women were found to be using unhygienic and unsafe alternatives to sanitary products. In order to establish how such misuse of resources could affect women in the future a case study at the Capital Bhubaneswar, and Ispat General Hospital, Rourkela Hospital was conducted in which 486 women in the age range of 14 to 45 years old participated. The study found that an improper Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) practices leads to increase the chances of negative implications on the reproductive health by 70% as well as an increase chance of getting infections like BV and UTI. The stigma not only prevents women to know about their body, and be aware that menstruation is a natural process and not disease or form of punishment, it also constricts from women taking preoccupations and proper manners in dealing with it, later leading to health complications.
Barriers and discriminations:
When young girls start going through puberty and experiencing menstruation they often feel humiliated by their peers, to them it is seen as something dirty. Without any proper sanitation facilities they do not feel comfortable attending school whilst on their period, consequently, they often feel a major disadvantage based on their gender. Questioning, why is it that they are the only ones going through such a horrid experience. The humiliation and the constant challenges that linger around them force the girls to drop out of school losing their chance of finishing primary education. In India, 1 in 5 girls in India drop out of school once they reach puberty, and In Maharashtra, second largest city in India 4 in 5 girls drop out. Without proper education, girls are often posed to a threat to child marriage, early unwanted pregnancies, and the incapacity of pursuing a career.
The discriminations prevail on the women during their career."The human right to work has two aspects: The right to freely choose or accept work, as well as the right to just and favorable conditions of work, which includes the right to safe and healthy working conditions. Both aspects of the right apply to all workers, including those who work in the informal sector."(Understanding Menstrual Hygiene Management and Human Rights). The stigma violates this right as many of the working spaces in India do not provide safe and healthy working conditions in terms of sanitary places for women, the absence of such facilities makes it more challenging for women to feel comfortable in their working site, thus leading many choose to halt their career.
Females are being discriminated and stripped from their human rights on the account of biological factors that they have no control over. The 'cultural practices' that females are forced to go through and the incapacity of communicating about the menstruation puts them at grave health risks. Discriminations force them to leave school and have minimal options for a job, and without proper and inclusive conditions and facilities pursuing a job is usually an option they decide not to strive for.
India isn't the only country facing such discrimination:
India is by far not the only country that experiences such heavy stigma burdens. In the western parts of Nepal (the Hindu-majority country), the girls that are experiencing their menstrual cycle are frowned upon, are called 'chhaupadi' which signifies a girl is unclean when she is bleeding. They are kicked out of their houses and are placed into sheds and huts, away from their families. Unlike India, Nepal is trying to combat discrimination by creating a law under which if anyone forces a menstruating woman into exile, they will be faced with a 3-month jail term and a fine of up to 3,000 rupees. Nonetheless, the fine does not cease all of the discriminations and exiles.
In first world countries, there are still perceptible injustices in regards to females and menstruation. For instance, many claim that sanitary products are too expensive for a lower class citizen to afford. Most countries label sanitary goods as 'luxury goods', and not 'necessity goods' thereby, impose a tax on them. In the United States the tax for the product goes as high as 7.25% (California). Some countries in the European Union are working on amending the taxes on the hygiene products, like France and Spain who are planning on lowering the tax from the current 10% to 4% the year of 2019. Other European countries are not so lenient, and proceed with taxes of up to 27% (Hungary). To put into perspective and make it easier to comprehend how the imposed taxes complement on to the burden for less economically stable citizens. The tax in the United Kingdom is 5% and one in ten British girls cannot afford a hygiene product. Now, imagine how many girls cant afford in countries like Hungary where is tax is 4 times higher. Referring to the graph on the right, that demonstrates the tax on sanitary products as well as the tax that is imposed on alcohol, tobacco and jewelry, half of the countries indicated on the graph perceive a necessity good the same as a luxury or a demerit good. On the account of such perspective and high taxes many females can not afford pads or a tampons. This reveals how third world countries are not unique in disregarding females for menstruation. Afterall, the stigma takes different forms and to contrasting extremes and consequences in different countries and cultures, the menstruation stigma is persistent and must be addressed.
How can that be fixed?
The United Nations and organizations like human rights watch and the WASH United drafted resolutions and plans to resolve the stigma along with the problems that come follow it. Organizations like Plant International focus on collecting girls in rural parts of India and educating and raising awareness on menstruation and safe MHM practices, along with the educational part a distribution of low cost sanitary napkins can be distributed to ensure females are not using unsafe and insterile materials. Such method was demonstrated in the documentary Period End Sentence and was shown to be highly effective. The government should oversee and make sure working and educational buildings have separate facilities with running water and sterile conditions for males and females. In cases of rural schools not having enough economic strength to facilitate such conditions, the named organizations could work on funding them to make both the males and the females comfortable in their working or educational. To address the needs of the lower income females living in first world countries legislative changes should be applied by the governments, changing the way taxes are imposed on the hygiene products. Pads and tampons are necessity goods for women and should not be regarded as luxury goods, because of such classification many women are not able to buy the products as they are too expensive for them to afford.
By eliminating the feeling of exclusion and banishment from the society during a girls period, through educating, as well as advocating for equal treatment and proper sanitary tools will help girls all around the world to stop acknowledging a biological process as a curse. This will substantially decrease the discrimination against women on their period, health complications caused by the improper hygiene practices, decrease of primary education dropouts, consequently decreasing child marriages, and teenage pregnancies.