We should now talk about it!

You are not allowed to do prayers! Not allowed to sit with everyone while having dinner on the dining table and not allowed to sleep on the bed. The menstrual cycle is a natural process like other processes we do in our daily routine then why talking about periods is a taboo.

Why can’t girls explain and talk about their menstrual cycle when they are going through it and are in pain?

Why don’t out society concentrates on reducing the mood swings and pain they suffer in their periods, instead of concentrating more on how we can avoid these girls when they are going through it? Why do girls and women become untouchable when they are in periods?

Most of the ladies don’t even know that they need to change their napkins in every six hours, which they don’t do, due to lack of knowledge about the same.

Even after being a woman and suffering from the same cycle every month, they are still unaware of the facts which are related to their menstrual cycle and sanitary pads. The lack of access to hygiene products is also a significant problem in India, as sanitary napkins still come in luxury products. Due to which, out of 355 million menstruating women in India, only 12% is able to use sanitary napkins. But people are ashamed of going to temple and sleeping on the bed while on periods or having dinner with everyone like other days. These are not important topics to focus but our Indian society does.

Women who are not using napkins during their periods can get infections and many other problems in future. Though with the changing generations, people are more open talking about periods in the urban area but in rural areas, ladies still face the same situation. Sanitary napkin is considered under luxury product which should be an essential product.

How can they charge us tax for bleeding every month? Is it fair for women all around the world?

Of course, there are few people like Muruganantham who has taken initiatives to talk about this topic in the rural area. As mentioned by him, ladies within his village were shy to talk to him about periods but the kind of courage he has shown for people all over India is tremendous. It is very necessary that tampon tax is applied all over the world so that the countries in which women don’t use sanitary napkins can take advantage of it and do not land into facing a lot of diseases. Not talking about it is not a solution. Instead, we should keep our mind a little wider and take the matter seriously. And not just in India, but all over the world.

The recent debate with Arun Jaitley should fetch results and consider sanitary napkins into essential goods. We, as a society, need to understand that it affects private parts of women in the long run and should educate them to avoid such situations.

Government and schools can collaborate together to run this campaign and educate not just girls but also men about it. They also need to know about the pain that woman goes through so that they can understand the situation. In fact, education sector should be held responsible for contributing to the healthy development and manage changes and challenges they face in life.

Girls report shame, confusion, fear, and stress due to lack of knowledge while pertaining to their puberty.

Practically, government educating about puberty will give enchainment to this subject and will make them aware about day to day realities of life. Understanding the sexual identity of each other’s youth will encourage them to feel confident about themselves and most importantly, they will learn to respect it.

According to a report, African girls miss 4 days of school in every 4 weeks but the sample of 198 girls in Nepal reports that they miss out only 0.4 percent of schooling in their periods due to the providence of sanitary technology which impacts less on their absenteeism. Talking about menstrual cycles will create awareness among all and hence, it should not be a taboo to talk or discuss it.

Like sex, we know about it but we don’t talk about it.

It will resolve all the negativity and fear that youngsters have while coming to this place and thus, it will make a better world to live in.

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