ABSTRACT
While woman sheds the Blood of life each moon at Menstruation, man can only shed the blood of death through warfare and killing.
Katha Pollitt (American poet, essayist, and critic)
Research Questions
Q1. What drags the dignity of Indian females down? Is it awareness and availability of menstrual products or incapable policies framed by the government?
Is menstruation a problem? Neither menstruation is a problem nor a taboo, but poor menstruation hygiene management and its awareness are. Poor ‘Menstrual Hygiene Management’ (MHM) is a reason for several problems. Despite several policies and steps taken by the government, the stature of females in rural India is not very satisfying. The issues and their repercussion are increasing every day, thereby affecting the nutritional status of females. Not only deterioration in physical but mental health is also increasing, resulting in depression, anxiety, and hormonal imbalances. The government, along with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Self-Help Groups (SHGs), and responsible corporates, can synergize to make Indian rural and urban slum females more dignified and healthy.
Chapter Overview
India is a developing country, where the word ‘menstrual’ and its talk is still a taboo. Menstrual is considered a high burden on families living below the poverty line or in rural areas; this results in a series of diseases, infections, poor menstrual hygiene, and deprived nutritional status. Despite some superficial awareness on the subject, ‘the rural and urban slum females’ in the country are still far away from their basic needs during this troublesome time. The purpose of the study is to understand the policy-level action by the government for better Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) practices and to identify the gaps present in the action plan.
The government has multidimensional roles in improving the stature of females. Needless to mentions, females living in rural areas are less aware of hygiene levels, and education is one significant reason for such deterioration in rural and urban slum females in India (Sommer, 2009). The low awareness level hits societal, psychosomatic, financial, and personal fronts. The alarm is on for the government to ponder over the counteractive measures to be taken along responsible groups in society without delaying their physical, financial, and mental and social upliftment.
Although the government has taken several steps, its effectiveness is still a topic of debate. The facts disclosed by the NFHS-4 survey are worrisome wherein the incorporation of the policies framed by the government seems to lose its fame.
Government, NGOs, SHGs, and corporates can be benefitted by increasing awareness, making available low-cost sanitary napkins, improving infrastructure, advocating on taboos, and silence related to menstruation. The case study highlights significant government policies and also links various stakeholders’ efforts toward better MHM practices. It identifies alternates to reduce the apprehensions, myths, standard procedures, and challenges on the issue.
