ABSTRACT
The term ‘social suffering’ indicates the array of human problems that emerge from painful lived experience, from disease and famine to war and torture. At its core, social suffering emphasizes how different forms of power work on people, and how these exercises of power—through institutions, cultural norms, political or economic oppression—shape people's possibilities for living. This chapter examines the practice of chaupadi , socially enforced isolation of menstruating women, which is prevalent in some parts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces of western Nepal and stems from Hindu religious beliefs that regard menstrual blood as impure. The chapter locates chaupadi in historical and sociocultural context, describes several case studies of this practice and its effects on the bodies and minds of Nepali women, and explores the work being done to mitigate, challenge, and end chaupadi. These case studies offer the perspective of healthcare workers operating within the context of their practice, and recognizes that menstruation itself is not a disease, but that practices of menstrual seclusion can engender illness and death, and, as such, are a critical locus of global health.
