Addressing the Menstrual Health & Hygiene
India is home to more than 350 million women and girls who menstruate every month. However, menstruation is still a taboo and a source of shame and discrimination for many of them.
In urban India, girls and women navigate a good part of their life in the public domain — a young working woman travels for hours by public transport, a teenager living in slums makes her way to school through narrow lanes, a sanitation worker begins her day before dawn cleaning the city, a vegetable vendor spends hours by her stall, and a nurse works busy 12-hour shifts. 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.
Periods are normal, but continue to be shrouded by shame, stigma and discrimination. Consequently, people face barriers in getting accurate information about periods and related products, using toilets, and seeking help when needed.
Menstrual health is not only a matter of personal hygiene, but also a public health issue that requires urgent attention and action from governments, civil society and individuals.
How grave is the Issue of Menstrual Health and Hygiene in India?
- According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), even though there has been significant progress in the past years, approximately 27% of young rural women still resort to unsanitary means of protection during their menstrual cycle.
- Among the urban population, 10% of young women reported using unhygienic methods.
- As per the report, 16 states and union territories (UTs) have a usage rate of over 90% for hygienic menstrual products. Nevertheless, some of the most impoverished states in India have a poor record in this regard. Bihar has the lowest usage rate (59%) of safe menstrual protection, followed by Madhya Pradesh (61%) and Meghalaya (65%).
