MENSTRUATION:
NOT ONLY A HEALTH ISSUE, BUT A HUMAN RIGHT DUTY
- Carlotta Pagan
What better day than May 28 to break taboos? On this date, Menstrual
Hygiene Day is celebrated, an occasion that began initially as a social media
awareness campaign by a german non-profit organization and some social
entrepreneurs with an attempt to make their message of peace go viral and ended
up becoming one of the most important fulcrums for menstrual hygiene management
awareness worldwide today.
Picture
1: School girls holding motivationalmotposterssaying “There are lot more to
shame than periods” and “Menstruation is my power and pride” for the Menstrual Hygiene Day event
Celebrated with street demonstrations, eccentric outfits, and bursts of
color, it is an important reminder of how important it actually is for
women around the world to be assured of functioning toilets, proper privacy, and
the correct hygienic means to contain menstrual flow, and to realize how far we
still have to go, in many countries, to achieve this basic rights.
The street demonstrations are often followed by public speeches,
performances, art exhibitions, and movie screenings, all of which demonstrates
how unity among people can be strength for a real change and those who can
contribute with a small amount, are always welcome.
The choice of this date is certainly no coincidence: the month of May,
the fifth month of the year, was chosen to represent the normal average length of
menstruation, while the 28th of the month was thought to indicate the
average length of a menstrual cycle.
Picture
2:Painting on newspaper sheet depicting menstrual pain and cramps in women without
access to primary health care services made by Kurdish activist Zehra Dogan,
Santa Giulia Museum, Brescia, Italy
As the posters for the 2023 occasion announce, the aim for this year is
to“Build a world where no one is held back because they menstruate, by 2030”. A
hope, perhaps, rather than a goal, if we consider the conditions in which most
South-East Asian countries still find themselves today.
It is a dramatic situation. Another placard, which a young activist waves
in her hands amid thousands of protesters in a Pakistan city, says “solidarity is
needed”.
And it is true. Action is needed,as soon as possible, and above all,
everyone's contribution is necessary. These are countries where there is a shortage
of water, where primary resources are accessible to few, and where there are no
adequate educational plans: most adolescent girls experience severe physical and
psychological conditions during their menstrual cycle, triggered by premenstrual syndrome
and other symptoms, and many of them, feeling uncomfortable compared to their
male classmates due to lack of access to adequate infrastructure, are forced to
drop out of school in a very early age.
In India, many taboos and popular beliefs related to the menstrual cycle
and its alleged impurity do not give due vent to an unmanageable situation and they do
not do justice to all efforts made for a healthy awareness. This makes not
possible to celebrate such an important day, so animatedly, for the people.
Picture 3: Indian activist holding a picket sign against
shortage of hygiene products and facilities in Kolkata, Indiaduring 2019
Menstrual Hygiene Day Celebration
The aim for the Menstrual Hygiene Day remains the same and there is a
wide agreement on what people need for good menstrual health: safe private spaces where
to change often sanitary products, good facilities with access to running water to
wash themselves and clean their hands as well as appropriate garbage bins where to throw
sanitary pads and materials once used.
The purpose is also to ensure that schools and public places will be
capable to guarantee those services, so that adolescent girls will be more likely to
attend classes during their menstrual period with more comfort and dignity and with
less worries.
During Menstrual Hygiene Day, many global and national
development polices also take action to provide investments, in order to
prioritize menstrual health and, so, to eliminate period poverty, that is, a
condition in which low-income women struggle to get hygienical products as well as a
fair access to running sanitized water and sanitation services.
Picture
4: A school with no water and toilets in Delhi, India, 2016
Considering that menstruation is a physiological process and that
menstrual health is a basic and fundamental right which deals with the ability
for women and girls to take care of their body in autonomy, comfort and dignity,
we at HEEALS can do nothing but fully support this day and the efforts of all the
people who mobilizee very year to build a self-sustainable society, as well as
express our immense gratitude to them, as we believe that even the
smallest effort can ultimately bring about great change
In the meanwhile, we continue to strive for reach the people from marginalized communities and
women in need through education and through the donation of
dignity kits containing essential products, as hand- cleaning soaps, hygienical and
sanitary products products and supplies.
Email : communciations@heeals.org
Whatss app : +91-7982316660
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