�Woh Paanch Din� : Awareness on Menstrual Hygiene and Management Brochure Guide

Abstract

In a discussion with my professors I told them about my interest to research and work on Awareness on Menstrual Hygiene Management to young and adolescent girls which is a major concern living in this 21st century. Menstruation and menstrual practices still face many social, cultural, and religious restrictions which are a big barrier in the path of menstrual hygiene management. In many parts of the country especially in rural areas girls are not prepared and aware about menstruation so they face many difficulties and challenges at home, schools, and workplaces. While reviewing literature, we found that little, inaccurate, or incomplete knowledge about menstruation is a great hindrance in the path of personal and menstrual hygiene management. Girls and women have very less or no knowledge about reproductive tract infections causeddue to ignorance of personal hygiene during menstruation time. In rural areas, women do not have access to sanitary products or they know very little about the types and methods of using them or are unable to afford such products due to high cost. So, they mostly rely on reusable cloth pads which they wash and use again. Women, in general, spend about 2000 days of their lives menstruating. and, contrary to that, the subject of menstruation and menstrual hygiene is neglected the most in developing countries, like ours, owing to myths and misconceptions, religious and socio-cultural practices. Only recently have we, as a society, been able to talk about such issues when Mr.Arunachalam Muruganantham, a mechanic from the south of India, revolutionized the sanitary napkin manufacturing industry to a point where his innovation earned him a prestigious national award. India still doesn�t fare well when it comes to menstrual hygiene management. With many debates and discussions came about the initiative wherein the government distributed low-cost sanitary napkins to women in need in rural areas, but was that the solution to the myriad of problems faced by such women when it comes to menstrual hygiene management ? That�s a critical question that needs to be asked, and, in addition, the case for maintaining individual dignity of such women needs to be addressed. Apart from the need of a mechanism for ensuring good quality of the sanitary product and a mechanism to address the environmental andhygiene that play along with the issue, this project also advocates for a change in the attitude of the society towards menstruation as a taboo as well. The project started taking shape at the end of the third semester and I knew that I had to work on the multiple problems faced by young adolescent girls in schools and their homes. The finalproject mentions the various taboos faced by women and how to manage and keep their surroundings hygienic. The title of the brochure guide is �Woh Paanch Din� is written as the main and major days are the 5 days which women go through during menstruation, where women have to follow all the taboos and instructions for the main 5 days.