Introduction
In India, 7 out of 10 girls aren’t aware of the basics of menarche before their first period. This ends up causing a plethora of problems. Firstly, the child has to deal with emotions of fear, confusion, and shame on her own, which is depressing at such an age. Secondly, if they aren’t properly informed about dealing with periods, they end up compromising on hygiene, causing long-term painful infections. Lastly, such a child who has grown up around people who stigmatize periods doesn’t communicate their worries or problems effectively, compounding them.
Importance of Early Menstrual Awareness
Early menstrual awareness prepares young girls for the many changes their body will undergo post menarche. When girls face their periods without any prior knowledge. They feel emotionally discomfited since fear, confusion and shame occupy the mind all at once. This isn’t healthy or fair for young girls who deserve to know about their bodies and have a pleasant childhood. Understanding why periods occur and familiarizing oneself to them is important for cultivating confidence at a young age and carrying it forward helping others do the same.
Menstrual education is cardinal also because it imparts practical knowledge to girls about the management of periods safely. It is very necessary for women to know different types of menstrual products like sanitary napkins, tampons, etc. Choose the one they feel most comfortable with, as this will not only help them in terms of health but also give them confidence. It is also important because the right education at the right time will not only stop girls from picking up bad practices. But also save them from the health issues related to such practices like infections.
Period Awareness empowers girls to seek help when they are having trouble while experiencing periods. Early education teaches them to communicate abnormal situations. Girls learn to report issues such as irregular periods, heavy bleeding, and excessive pain so that healthcare providers can examine them and offer appropriate solutions. When girls feel prepared and confident, they communicate these concerns to their parents and teachers without hesitation. This in turn ensures their overall well being.
Schools as an Important Pillar
Not knowing enough about periods and treating them as a disease rather than a natural bodily function, leads to girls being absent from school, missing studies and then eventually dropping out. Fear of staining clothes, judgment, lack of menstrual products, and poor sanitation make girls miss school. When families treat periods with silence and humiliation at home, the situation worsens. As a result, girls lose confidence, hesitate to step out, skip school, and sometimes even discontinue their education.
Faced regularly by this stigma, girls often form a psychological barrier, wherein they see period as a restriction and not as a natural part of life. The internalization of this shame stops them from achieving broader goals because they put an end on their mobility, withdrawing from everyday activities and hampering their growth.
Schools play an important role in breaking this cycle. When schools train their staff to help young girls understand menstruation, they create meaningful change. By normalizing conversations around menstrual health, teaching girls the right vocabulary to ask questions, delivering age-appropriate lessons in classrooms, and engaging parents, schools enable girls to continue their education with confidence and without fear.
How NGOs are helping
Many women empowerment NGOs go into schools and communities to conduct menstrual education through various means:
Workshops: Explaining the biology simply in order to rationally explain the occurrence of periods and also demonstrating how to use sanitary products, complementing this with teaching hygienic practices to follow during periods.
Hygiene kit distributions: NGOs also distribute kits containing sanitary napkins, sanitizer, new underpants, garbage disposal bag etc to make sure that young girls are prepared at the time of their first period.
Teacher training: NGOs reach out to schools and train teachers and equip them with resources and materials through which they can help and support children properly.
Campaigns: NGOs often run big campaigns against myths and stigma about periods. They reach out to communities, families, organise events, post on social media platforms for maximum reach.
Prazna Foundation doing its part
Prazna Foundation was established with the vision of reaching out to as many underprivileged children as possible, teaching them not just regular subjects but also about menstruation, addressing and acknowledging all their doubts regarding the topic. Through Project Kishori, countless number of women, of all ages, have been informed about periods, safe practices during periods, busting myths and also uprooting the taboo of periods from their minds. Our foundation has worked round the clock to ensure that through education about periods, girls are able to live a dignified and confident life and they create a supportive environment for their own family and friends as well. We pledge to be the enabler of equal opportunity in education for all.
