Discussion on menstrual hygiene

Youth Ki Awaaz organised its first Converge dedicated to Sexual Reproductive Health Rights with leading change makers and policy makers in the field focussed on finding solutions to address the lack of conversation around Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) at Urdu Akademi, Lucknow recently.

According to a 2014 study, it is estimated that nearly 23 million girls drop out of school annually due to lack of proper menstrual hygiene management facilities, which include the availability of sanitary napkins and logical awareness of menstruation.

Project Khel executive director Angana Prasad, menstrual hygiene champion Shikoh Zaidi, Apurva Dubey, special secretary, Housing, UP Government, journalist Neetu Singh, and Sanjay Singh Chauhan, state consultant at Department of Panchayatiraj were present at the Converge.

“Periods are normal and natural and definitely not a ‘beemari’. It is worth deconstructing how a lot of women have started using the word ‘problem’ as a code name to getting their periods, because health wise speaking, not getting periods at all is a problem. Periods need to be dealt with more positivity to help bring back its normalcy,” said Angana Prasad.

Youth Ki Awaaz founderdirector Anshul Tewari also spoke on the occasion. “I have created a small group of girls in my school who are running awareness campaigns in their community. Today, 23 million children drop out of school annually due to lack of menstrual hygiene. And only 12% women in India use sanitary napkins. It’s time to break the silence around periods and menstruation,” said Shikoh Zaidi, menstrual hygiene champion from Lucknow.