New Delhi: Right from being treated as ‘untouchables’ to dropping out of school, the taboo around menstruation in India has adversely affected millions of women in the country for years. Besides, lack of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), fueled by a lack of awareness and education, especially in schools and colleges is one of the primary reasons why women in several parts of India still are victims of age-old practices.
But there are various individuals, who are working on changing the state of Menstrual Hygiene Management and scrap age-old practices through education and awareness, and one such samaritan is Srinidhi S.U.
An assistant professor at Reva University in Bengaluru and Club Mentor at Rotaract Club of Swarna in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Mr. Srinidhi has been raising menstrual hygiene awareness among thousands of girls and women in government schools and colleges in Bengaluru Urban and Rural areas, Dakshina Kannada, Bagalkot and Ramanagara districts.
He has been working for the cause since 2018, ever since he started his journey with the Rotaract Club. He served as the chair of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) session project in 2018, that was initiated at the club by his senior, Apoorva N.H. But he was hesitant at first to be a part of it. Speaking to the NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth India team, he said,
Initially, I was unable to figure out how to enter into a sphere where I saw only women speaking about menstrual health and hygiene. But my interest in women’s health made me take a step forward and I created Project Sthree.
He educated himself about menstruation and other health issues related to it and so he went through several research papers, spoke with his female coworkers to learn more about menstruation, period practices, precautions taken by women, and other related topics.
After serving as the chair of MHM session project, he founded ‘Project Sthree’ in 2019, to leverage the MHM initiative and address women’s health concerns including menstrual hygiene, thyroid and breast cancer, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
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PROJECT STHREE
The project’s aim is to break the stigma around menstrual health and hygiene among women studying in Karnataka’s government schools and colleges.
Mr. Srinidhi conducting sessions with government college students.
Under this initiative, Mr. Srinidhi along with a team of volunteers, conduct MHM sessions, which include educating women about the importance of menstrual health and hygiene, eating nutritional food, the kinds of pain they may suffer during periods, discharges they may observe during menstruation and medicines available for subsiding the period pain, among others.
Mr. Srinidhi also urges them to use sustainable and hygienic menstrual products such as cups and reusable sanitary napkins, instead of unhygienic cloth pieces. Additionally, he has provided the school students with several such products. Most of the session also had doctors on board to answer any queries.
My motive is to have maximum conversations around menstrual health, so that the students become more equipped to cognitively accept menstruation as a ‘normal’ aspect of life. It is important for them to understand the meaning of the physical changes they experience when they enter puberty. Menstrual education in schools and colleges will help reduce the embarrassment and myths around the topic. I tell my colleagues to describe the process of menstruation in detail, so that the students know what it is and why they get it.
Also Read: Menstrual Hygiene Day 2023: Understanding Menopause And Associated Health Complications
MENSTRUAL HYGIENE: CHALLENGES OF SPREADING AWARENESS
The project has been successful in colleges, but Mr. Srinidhi faced challenges in approaching the schools. The faculty in the government schools were reluctant to have a man talk to the female students about menstrual health and refused to ALLOW him to take sessions. Mr. Srinidhi was unfazed by this, and he began bringing his female coworkers and volunteers to speak to the students and tutor them.
This incident also made him realise that despite several efforts, there was one thing he still needed to address to completely dismantle the culture of hesitancy and shame around menstrual health. He realised that his target audience was not just girls and women, but men as well. He wanted men to discuss menstruation and engage in the menstrual hygiene programmes with Project Sthree.
Menstruation is a biological function and not just a ‘woman thing’. It’s not necessary to gender body parts or bodily functions. We can demystify and destigmatise menstruation by engaging both men and women into the discussion, he added.
Project Sthree reached out to students studying in the government schools
Rakshit K. Shetty is one of six male members of Project Sthree and he has participated with Mr. Srinidhi in organising and conducting multiple sessions on menstrual health and hygiene. Talking about his journey, Mr. Shetty said,
Ever since I had joined the club, my area of interest was always towards women empowerment since the beginning. Becoming a part of the project was a dream come true as it helped me understand the nuances of the subject less talked about.
Any man interested in joining Project Sthree undergoes training sessions regarding menstrual health and hygiene led by Mr. Srinidhi and other senior members. This helps them to get a comprehensive understanding of the project.
With Mr. Srinidhi’s efforts, the project has six active male members, and 10-12 active female members and volunteers, all between the age group of 18-30 years.
IMPACT OF PROJECT STHREE
Till now, the initiative has impacted the lives of more than 5,000 girls across urban and semi-urban areas. Women have imbibed dietary changes that Mr. Srinidhi recommended in his sessions and started using sustainable menstrual products available, over dirty pieces of clothes. Besides, the girls have initiated discussions on menstrual health with their parents and busted the myths around customs followed in the house blindly, Mr. Srinidhi said.
Mr. Srinidhi with the students and members of Project Sthree
The students who were initially hesitant to discuss the problems they were facing, began approaching Mr. Srinidhi at the sessions with questions and shared issues they faced during periods.
Removing the hesitancy and providing them a safe platform to discuss about menstrual health is one of the motives of this project. This is an achievement over any award or a reward.
To reach out to more girls and women in the rural areas, Mr. Srinidhi has started conducting sessions at the Anganwadi centres.
I want to educate women belonging to the economically weaker sections of the society with the help of Anganwadi workers. I have conducted a few sessions and I have seen the results. The women of the families in these rural areas, have been educating their children about menstrual health. What can be the biggest achievement other than this? he added.
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diarrhoea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
