The Importance of Menstrual Health for Women’s Empowerment
Menstrual health as well as menstrual hygiene are critical issues that affect adolescent girls and women across the world. It is vital to ensure that they possess access to the resources, knowledge, and tools that they need to eventually maintain excellent menstrual health and hygiene. This is particularly important in developing countries, where access to sanitary products and education regarding menstrual health may be limited or even non-existent.
Ujaas, a menstrual health and menstrual hygiene initiative of Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET), aims to empower women through education and the provision of resources that can surely help in the optimum management of periods.
Optimum menstrual health and menstrual hygiene can definitely empower women as well as adolescent girls by successfully helping them to efficiently manage their monthly period cycles, drastically reduce discomfort, and stay in prime health.
Research indicates that when women have the ability to maintain excellent menstrual hygiene, the chances of their feeling confident and in complete control of their lives are higher. Conversely, when access to period products is unavailable or inadequate, it can be detrimental to their health. This is why menstrual hygiene is important.
Ujaas, a menstrual health and menstrual hygiene initiative by ABET, has distributed thousands of free sanitary pads in rural areas of India.
To make sure that women and adolescent girls throughout the world have access to excellent menstrual health and hygiene that they require to stay healthy, it is extremely vital to focus on certain aspects.
Below-mentioned are the key areas:
Education
Providing exhaustive and comprehensive education on sexual and reproductive health is important when it comes to helping young individuals understand menstruation, developing a positive attitude towards it, and knowing how to care for their bodies during their period cycle. Such an education must include info about the signs and symptoms of common gynaecological conditions and advice on how to successfully maintain excellent period health and hygiene practices.
Access
When it comes to menstrual health and menstrual hygiene in India, both girls and women must be able to have access to affordable sanitary products, without any shame or stigma. In some countries, there are several initiatives in place such as access to free sanitary pads for schoolgirls and even tax exemptions for period products. Improvement in access to sanitary products is an essential step towards making sure that every woman has the ability to take optimum care of their menstrual health.
Resources
When it comes to women’s empowerment, they must have access to info about where to find help if they face any difficulties related to their period cycle. This may include info about where to obtain medical help if needed or contact details of local support services for primary issues related to mental health and domestic violence.
Awareness
Society needs to be highly aware of the needs of women when it comes to menstrual health and hygiene. This may include successful initiatives such as the provision of more public restrooms with lockable stalls or increasing awareness of the importance of discussing period health in an open manner, without any stigma or shame.
Teaching Mothers
Women in rural India continue to view themselves as a “lesser gender” in the 21st century, despite all technological advancements and rhetoric about empowerment for women. They do not seem to break the shackles of teaching and caring for the sake of their health. Access to basic healthcare has been drastically hampered by the negative mindset of acceptance. A high percentage of taboos that cause serious health problems in women can be successfully resolved by educating mothers regarding their own health or at least by removing all barriers. A massive awareness drive must be launched to train mothers because they can give rise to awareness among teenage girls for the usage of menstrual products such as sanitary pads, tampons, and menstrual cups.
When it comes to menstrual hygiene in India, these actions will make sure that girls and women across the world have increased access to resources that they need to successfully maintain their health and self-determination throughout their lifetime. Arming them with the info that they need will surely enable them to take charge of their reproductive health and live healthier, fuller lives.
If menstrual health and menstrual hygiene are well managed from the beginning, they would surely have a high potential to contribute to women’s empowerment at a vital stage in their lives. Getting this right is essential. The consequences of failing to do so are alarming.
Let’s discuss a few consequences of failing -
- Infrastructure
Globally, nearly 367 million children do not have sanitation facilities in their schools. Moreover, women and adolescent girls lack the right facilities to manage their periods. This is why menstrual hygiene is important.
- Education
This lack of infrastructure coupled with stigma leads to absenteeism in schools. In one study conducted in Kenya, 95% of menstruating girls missed one to three school days, while 70% reported a highly negative impact on their grades. Moreover, over 50% reported falling behind in school due to menstruation.
- Solid Waste and Environment
Where menstrual products are readily available, they lack sustainability too often. With 40 billion disposable sanitary pads being soiled each month, sanitary products contribute to an increase in global waste. In the Indian context, 12.3 billion pads each month generate 113,000 metric tons of menstrual waste each year.
- Stigma
Societal stigmas and norms set off an alarmingly early pattern of linking menstruation as being dirty as well as shameful. Nearly 80% of adolescent girls in rural India were of the opinion that menstrual fluid contained harmful substances and nearly 60% believed that periods should not be a topic to talk about openly.
The Bottomline
There is a need for awareness to eliminate societal stigma. Society must be made aware of menstruation as well as the experiences that women have during their period cycles. Women must feel completely secure and at ease as they accept this natural process and talk about their personal experiences. Ensuring that girlsgenerate have access to menstrual products in public areas such as schools and workplaces is a step in the right direction. Nobody must be made to feel guilty about something that they have absolutely no control over. To build a kinder and more accepting society, it is vital to end the present silence and speak up on menstruation and how to be safe and hygienic during menstruation.