In the wake of World Toilet Day 2023, it’s imperative to shift our focus from toilets to another critical aspect of women’s health – menstrual hygiene. While the Swachh Bharat Mission achieved considerable success in addressing open defecation concerns, particularly by constructing over 10 crore toilets across India, the area of menstrual hygiene for women still demands urgent attention.
Despite the sheer magnitude of menstruating women and girls in India, estimated at around 355 million, menstruation continues to be a taboo subject, enveloped in secrecy and obscured by societal silence and shame. This prevailing silence leads to a dearth of dialogue about menstrual hygiene on individual, family, and community levels.
Pearl Tiwari, Director and CEO of Ambuja Foundation, underscores the urgency, stating, “Many rural women face barriers to accessing sanitary napkins due to financial constraints, lack of awareness, and limited product availability. With nearly 50% of women relying on cloth during menstruation and approximately 20 million girls dropping out of school annually due to hygiene-related issues, the need for menstrual hygiene for women and girls stands as a crucial aspect of sanitation in India.”
Tackling Menstrual Hygiene: A Four-Pronged Approach
1. Access to Knowledge
The first step in addressing this issue comprehensively is to provide women and girls with access to knowledge. Grassroots health workers play a vital role in disseminating information about human anatomy, the reproductive system, the menstrual process, appropriate hygiene practices, and the changes occurring during puberty.
2. Access to Menstrual Products
Even with increased awareness, acquiring sanitary pads and napkins remains challenging and expensive. The stigma surrounding menstrual products makes it difficult for women to communicate their needs within their households. Market unavailability has driven many girls to resort to cloth napkins, with the National Family Health Survey revealing that 50% of women and girls still use cloth napkins, leading to heightened infection risks.
3. Access to MHM & WASH
Many schools in villages lack proper facilities for changing and disposing of sanitary napkins. This deficiency includes gender-specific toilets, clean water, soap, and hygienic changing places. Consequently, numerous girls in this age group end up discontinuing their education. Rural health workers and NGOs need to collaborate with schools in remote areas to establish clean and hygienic infrastructure for managing menstrual hygiene.
4. Access to Safe Disposal of Used Absorbents
Safely disposing of used sanitary napkins remains a significant challenge, with many being disposed of in sewage lines, open pits, and commodes due to a lack of awareness. Behavioral change is crucial, involving awareness campaigns on wrapping and discarding used sanitary napkins properly. Provision of disposal machines, along with specially designed collection bags or incinerators, should be installed in schools for safe and hygienic disposal. Additionally, exploring bio-degradable yet cost-effective sanitary pads is essential to address the growing waste disposal problem generated by commercial sanitary napkins.
Menstrual hygiene in India must emerge as a mainstream topic of discussion. As a nation, we must bring Menstrual Hygiene Management out of the shadows and take comprehensive, holistic actions to address these issues, ensuring the health and well-being of our women and girls – both today and in the future.
