“A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education”

A documentary on menstruation, set in rural India, titled Period. End of Sentence, won the

Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards (24th

February 2019). Iranian filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi has directed the short film, which has

been produced by Indian producer Guneet Monga's Sikhya Entertainment.

The film came into being a part of The Pad Project, started by students at the Oakwood

School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton. From the award-winning director

Rayka Zehtabchi, the producer Guneet Monga, and a hardworking group of students,

parents, and teachers from a small high school in Los Angeles, California, comes Period. End

of Sentence. Winner of the Academy Award qualifying festivals for Best Short Doc at The

Cleveland International Film Festival, The Traverse City Film Festival as well as many others

including AFIFest, and Savannah. India's moment at the Oscars comes exactly a decade after

A R Rahman and sound engineer Resul Pookutty won the Academy awards for Slumdog

Millionaire in 2009.

The documentary follows a group of local women in a village outside Delhi located in

the Hapur District, as they learn how to operate a machine that makes low-cost,

biodegradable sanitary pads, which they sell to other women at affordable prices. When a

sanitary pad machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market

their own pads, empowering the women financially as workers and as a sales force, and also

in terms of self-confidence. The women there are leading a quiet revolution, fighting against

the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation. Their growing independence garners them a new

level of respect from the men of their community, and the taboo on mentioning a woman’s

period is disappearing. This not only helps to improve feminine hygiene by providing access

to basic products but supports and empowers the women to shed the taboos in India

surrounding menstruation, all while contributing to the economic future of their community.

Today, the unit employs seven women, between 18 and 31 years of age. They work six days

a week and are paid a monthly salary of 2,500 rupees. The centre produces 600 pads a day

and they are sold under the brand name Fly. This little business, run from two rooms in a

village home, has helped improve feminine hygiene. Until it was set up most women in the

village were using pieces of cloth cut out from old saris or bedsheets when they had their

period, now 70% use pads. It has also de-stigmatised menstruation and changed attitudes in a

conservative society in ways that were unimaginable just a couple of years ago.

HEEALS (Health, Education, Environment And Livelihood Society) is one of those

organizations directly involved in facing menstrual taboo in India. It is working on Water

Sanitation, Menstrual Hygiene and Children Education projects in seven states. Through

spreading education on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and organizing WASH and MH

workshop, HEEALS is working to increase the attendance rates of girls in schools who drop

out from school due to their period, reduce the number of diseases and improve

self-confidence of girls in Indian society. We can’t be more proud that a documentary on

menstrual hygiene in India won an Oscar at the Academy Awards. This shows a general

interest in this delicate topic which is a common taboo across our society. We hope that this

awards will raise awareness all over the country and abroad to face a social stigma that is

necessary to break down. Furthermore we firmly agree with Melissa Berton, the film

producer, who told the crowd while accepting the Oscar: "A period should end a sentence,

not a girl’s education!”. Much more needs to be done in this sector, and we hope that Period.

End of Sentence could motivate other people to help girls and women around India.

-Manuel

WASH Intern

References:

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/documentary-short-oscar-winner-period-endsentence-

girls/story?id=61281827

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47307335

https://www.businesstoday.in/trending/entertainment/netflix-indian-short-documentaryperiod-

end-of-sentence-wins-oscar/story/321940.html

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/period-end-of-sentence-short-documentary-aboutmenstruation-

and-sanitary-pads/

https://www.thepadproject.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Period._End_of_Sentence.