Writing and disseminating grey literature

Exercise
First Draft for substantive editing
The framing of MHM by campaigns must look at menstruation as a socio-political issue which must
be focused on fighting the stigma rather than provisioning of products. The disscourse around
MHM is too much around product provision and too little on structural and societal change. The
framing of ‘what’s wrong’ is centered around girls and women, rather than everyone in the society.
The articulation of solutions generally equates products to dignity and discipline. The menstrual
health management ends with provisioning of products for all, thereby decentering girls to keep
their periods quiet and out of sight.

Even while talking about the range of choices available for MH care, the argument is hardly around
affordability and comfort. Discussing about the trend of shifting to ’eco-friendly products’, transfers
the burden of pollution, also on women. In reality, there is a need to educate everyone about the
need for safe disposal while ensuring availability of infrastructure and a system to handle the non-
biodegradable MH waste. The conversation around MHM needs to unshackle its own taboos.

The first step towards this is evidently ‘breaking the silence’ around menstruation. The
international Women’s Health Coalition reports 5,000 different slang terms for the word ‘periods’
across 190 countries. A simple proof to the silence around menstruation are these endless
euphemisms attached to it.

The chennai unit of the TNUSSP program organised an event called 'Red Thiruvizha' for women
working at Chaitanya Exotica. RT was an initiative to encourage women to talk about periods
without any hesitation and share their experiences. It was facilitated by social activist and gender
expert, Padmavathi and Obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr Amuda Hari. The event consisted of an
interesting game around menstruation followed by a Q&A session with the Doctor. Around 40
women participated in the event. The campaign used five themes which will be discussed later.

Interesting discussions emerged around menstruation which included their experiences of the first
period, level of knowledge in childhood, rituals practiced at home, Dos and Don'ts during
menstruation, handling mood swings, being conscious about leaking/staining and facilities at home
and work place for safe disposal.

The Q&A session was informative for all participants who discussed various facets of menstruation
throughout the life of a woman, hygiene and use of contraceptives, menstruation and its linkage to
childbirth and fertility, when one must approach a health care provider and queries about
menstrual products: their safe use and handling.

In Trichy, MH Awareness was aired through FM rainbow from 9-10 am, focusing on the key themes
and messages of Red Thiruvizha, and a conference ‘Speak up’ was held with various experts, where
a MHM booklet was released by the city commissioner N Ravinchandran. Health Open door
awareness was also held in five slums, health camps and exclusive counselling sessions were also
held in several places, covering topics including science behind menstruation and sharing
information on options of sanitary products. A ‘Johari window’ technique was also used to
participants to open up and understand menstruation.

The narratives around menstruation have begun to follow certain standard formats- of young rural
girls unaware about menstruation until their first period, of women not having access to pads and
following superstitious community practices, and of late also about the plastic waste generated by
pads and the switch to sustainable products. But have we really broken the silence around
menstruation? Are urban, working women able to take about periods to their families, in their
workplaces, or to men? Are they aware of products in the market to be able to make an informed
choice? How do women cope with practical issues like staining, changing and disposal of pads?

What do participants say?

● “The word ‘stomach pain’ has been associated with ‘ladies problem’, so I feel embarrassed
to tell my boss that is why I am not coming in to work. I would rather say headache or back
pain or any other reason but never stomach pain or periods”
● I felt invalid in that duration. I was made to site separately. 9 days, new clothes, sweets. but
separate plate and bed, I asked myself, am i untouchable?
● We dont expose anything in our village. We did not do anything. if people are wealthy, they
do a function
● i was young. there was only a simple puja and a meal for everyone. I was embarrassed.
● Eco friendly products are difficult to use. its not viable. we know about the plastic waste, but
we still use it.

The event revealed that talking openly about either products or disposal too is not yet very
common because of the silence around periods.

It’s necessary that this silence is broken. This will give us an impetus to move beyond taboos and
myths associated with menstruation to end associated stigma and discrimination. Menstruation has
always been surrounded by taboos and myths that exclude women from many aspects of socio-
cultural life. These taboos have a detrimental impact on the emotional state of girls and women as
well as have a negative bearing on their lifestyle and most importantly, their health.

Menstruation is more than just ‘bleeding’. Menstrual health knowledge is crucial in the context of
providing girls and women with life cycle knowledge on menstruation, linking it to sexual and
reproductive health. It is also imperative to enable women to make informed choices by ensuring
access to various products and information about their safe usage and disposal.

Finally, we must ensure safe disposal of all types of menstrual hygiene products. Infrastructure and
systems need to be in place for this, as the onus lies not just on women, but on all stakeholders to
provide an enabling environment for safe use and disposal. Improper disposal occurs due to lack of
facilities or awareness of its implications. Unsafe disposal such as dropping absorbents in toilets,
burning, dumping in water bodies, landfills etc. have severe environmental consequences.
Contrarily, lack of disposal options lead to unhygienic use of safe absorbents, such as prolonged
use. While awareness should be created to suggest the use of reusable sanitary products or the
natural sanitary products, conscious efforts must be taken for segregation of menstrual waste.