Sanitary pads collected from various donors being distributed to underprivileged women in Tatanagar slum, Belapur in 2016. , Photo credit: Yogesh Mhatre
IIn a recent incident, a man in a Maharashtra town allegedly killed his 12-year-old sister as he mistook menstrual stains on her clothes as a sign of sex. The incident is indicative of the extent of misinformation about menstruation in urban India.
In urban India, girls and women spend a good part of their lives navigating the public sphere – a young working woman traveling for hours by public transport, a slum-dwelling teenager walking narrow streets to school, a cleaning A worker begins his day cleaning the city before dawn, a vegetable seller spends hours near his stall, and a nurse works a hectic 12-hour shift. Their lives are very different, but they all navigate public spaces on a daily basis while dealing with a private aspect of their lives: their periods.
Menstruation is normal, but surrounded by shame, stigma and discrimination. As a result, people face barriers to accessing accurate information about periods and related products, using the toilet, and seeking help when needed. The popular belief is that centers for rural areas are ‘period poverty’ – backward, steeped in superstitions and unsafe practices – while urban areas are progressive with access to modern day products and related necessities. However, the lived experiences of many urban dwellers show otherwise.
The sweeper may not have much knowledge about her body or menstruation. She uses waste cloth during her menstruation and often throws the cloth after one use as she cannot hygienically wash, dry and reuse the cloth. A teenager wears a sanitary pad continuously for 10-12 hours. Both may not have a toilet at home, and use a community toilet or go to a secluded place early in the morning or late at night. Community toilets close after 11 pm and are often dirty. During the summer, the water supply is limited, and it may not be possible to shower daily. The working woman wears extra pads because she may not have time or a clean or separate toilet to change.
Obstacles to menstrual hygiene
India has been at the forefront of action menstrual hygiene Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector have all played an important role in spreading awareness and making menstrual products available. But the focus has often been on India’s rural population, and for good reason. However, India’s large, rapidly growing urban population also draws attention.
Field insights and research suggest that certain groups of urban residents face a range of limitations that affect their menstrual health. Understanding of periods is still limited, especially among low-income groups. Period products may be more readily available in local grocery stores, chemists and online channels, but remain wrapped in paper or black plastic bags due to the associated shame. While many urban households have toilets, low-income slum dwellers, pavement dwellers, and some educational institutions and workplaces still do not have toilets, or have toilets that are not easily accessible, safe or clean and convenient .
Poor awareness, stigma and shame, limited access to products, lack of personal hygiene, poor toilet and water facilities, and difficulties disposing of pads can lead to anxiety, discomfort, and infection and long-term health problems. Menstrual waste management is a serious concern in view of the increasing use of disposable sanitary pads. Regular garbage collection exists in many urban residential areas, but not in low-income areas. Where garbage collection mechanisms exist, users do not always separate the pads. The sanitation workers are then forced to sort the waste with their bare hands. This act undermines his health and honor.
Actionable actions can help improve menstrual health in urban India, especially in low-income groups and in public places. Awareness about menstruation is a key pillar of action, and should be continued alongside efforts to address harmful social and gender norms. Menstrual products, both reusable and disposable, should become more available through various access channels – retail outlets, social enterprises, government schemes and NGOs. People should have the information and the right to choose the products they want to use. Citizen movements such as ‘Green the Red’ support urban populations to use menstrual cups and cloth pads, providing much needed exposure to reusable products.
Female friendly communities and public toilets are gaining in popularity. ‘She Toilet’ in Telangana and Tamil Nadu and ‘Pink Toilet’ in Delhi Provide secure, private, clean facilities with essential amenities needed to manage periods. Waste disposal and management remains a challenge. Yet some promising practices include the provision of dustbins and incinerators in women’s toilets, promoting waste segregation at source through initiatives such as the ‘Red Dot campaign’ and innovations such as ‘Padcare Labs’.
closed gap
Some major gaps in urban spaces have not been addressed: reaching people living in unregistered slums, footpaths, refugee camps and other vulnerable situations in urban areas. Worksites, both formal and informal, need to meet the menstrual needs of working women. Support must continue for innovations in menstrual waste management that are safe, effective and scalable.
as we marked May 28 as Menstrual Hygiene DayTogether, let’s shape the narrative on menstrual health as important to personal health, public health, and everyone’s human rights.
Aruna Bhattacharya leads the Urban Health/Public Health domain at the School of Human Development, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru; Arundhati Muralidharan is the founder of Menstrual Health Alliance India