Looking back on India's Menstrual Health trajectory on National Women's Day

There is a dichotomy around how society views menstruators. While under some customs, women are celebrated when they get their first period, under most other circumstances, women are treated as untouchables when they are bleeding. In some customs, when a girl gets her first period, her family throws a great party for her, decking her up in finery and gifting her gold. But those exist to celebrate the girl's fertility, as she can now finally achieve her only goal in life, being a vending machine of children.

And if you are a menstruator who is not a woman, then God forbid! you are not even recognised as someone who bleeds every month and deserves access to basic WASH facilities.

This brings us to the findings of the latest ASER report 2022 where it has been highlighted that over 24% of schools lack access to toilets in general and over 32% of schools lack access to toilets for girls.

The NFHS-5 data has highlighted that there is still a low uptake of any hygienic method if the girl doesn't have any education. Girls with higher than secondary level of education are more than twice as likely to be using a hygienic method than girls without any education level (93% verses 43%).

Moreover, the use of hygienic methods is slightly higher among unmarried adolescent girls as compared to those married in this age group, as per both rounds (NFHS-4 and NFHS-5).

?Bihar has the lowest percentage of girls using a menstrual health product at 59.7%, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 61% and Meghalaya at 65.6%.?

One interesting thing to note here is the fact that even though Bihar claimed to have 100% enrolment rates for girls, it has not reflected on other parameters like improvement in menstrual health and hygiene. child marriage etc. This can mean that girls are only enrolled on paper but they do not attend schools.

Moreover, there is also a lot of data gap when it comes to information on uptake of these schemes. There are no such studies on the uptake of these schemes or government surveys collecting feedback from the beneficiaries of the schemes.?

Another issue that most of these schemes face is the quality concern regarding the menstrual health products distributed. Most often, they are not usable or upto the mark.

When the Jan Ashaudhi Scheme was launched, there were serious concerns regarding the quality of the Re. 1 Suvidha sanitary napkins distributed. However, no concrete official studies exist to examine the same.

The pad is claimed to be made of oxo-biodegradable materials which are actually plastics that have added chemicals.

One of the goals of the Jan Ashaudhi Scheme is, "To ensure easy availability of the menstrual health services (Janaushadhi ‘Suvidha’ sanitary napkins) to all women across India." This statement highlights how the government officially still hasn't recognised menstruators other than women in its schemes.

Data gaps, lack of recognition of menstruators across gender, and continued stigmatization of those who menstruate are still some of the issues that are yet to be dealt with.

If this is something that resonates with you, head over to the petition that I started and sign to show your support!

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If you are someone who is not yet aware of the intricacies and overlapping issues regarding menstruation, here are some guides for you to become more informed, irrespective of whether you are a menstruator or not.

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