Half of slum girls don’t change sanitary napkins in school, survey reveals

Periods are a tough time for all teenage girls But as the feminist group Vacha which works with adolescents in Mumbairsquos bastis found out for these teenagers periods present unique challenges In a firstofitskind survey of 272 girls carried out over 18 months in the slums of Bandra Malwani Asalfa Marol and KalyanDombivli Vacha found that two of the most difficult challenges faced by these teenagers were changing their sanitary napkins and disposing of themTeenage girls participate in workshops on reproductive health organised by VachaldquoIt was a shock to discover that even changing a napkin can be a problemrdquo said Dr Sangeeta Desai author of the survey which will be presented on Tuesday Menstrual Hygiene Day Of those surveyed 51 per cent said that they didnrsquot change napkins in school because those toilets either didnrsquot have water or a disposal bin They changed them only at home but because their houses comprise one room they had to be discreet wait till nobody was around or tell their fatherbrother to go outHealth concernsldquo32 per cent went six hours without changing one napkinrdquo said Dr Desai Rashes and infections were therefore common but these side effects were considered as much a part of menstruation by these teens as the pain that accompanied it The pain sometimes made them skip school but neither their mothers nor their teachers had recommended any palliative for it ldquoThis is another example of the way womenrsquos health is given no importancerdquo said Yagna Parmar director VachaDisposing of a used napkin was the other major challenge as 60 per cent of the girls had no toilet at home They baulked at throwing the napkin on top of the pile of overflowing garbage in the slumrsquos community dustbins Hence they waited till dark to leave their napkins on the window sills of community toilets or behind their doorsHence merely providing sanitary napkins at low cost which has been the thrust of the governmentrsquos programme is not enough said Avidha Golwalkar associate director Vacha Resolving the range of problems faced by girls living in slums who constitute the majority in Mumbai would entail providing more and cleaner community toilets a more efficient waste collection system and changing the water distribution policy all of which can only be done by the BMC and state governmentSupply issuesEven the basic provision of lowcost sanitary napkins is not fulfilled uniformly These napkins should be available at every Jan Aushudhi Kendra But said the girls supply was erratic and the napkins often too smallAccording to the survey 72 per cent of the girls were given free napkins in municipal schools but not regularly and these were often unbranded and of low quality Napkins could be bought from the schoolrsquos vending machines but only 30 per cent of the girls knew how to operate them They could also be bought from the school staff at R5 each but this often came with a scolding from the teacher ldquoWhy didnrsquot you remember your due date and bring a napkin from homerdquo the girls were askedWhen distributing essentials to their members during the COVID19 lockdown Vacha staffers were asked to include sanitary napkins After the lockdown their members requested that they continue distributing napkins Today Vacha gives two packs of napkins to every member every monthDuring workshops on reproductive health Vacharsquos members often told them to educate boys too Boys reacted positively to such workshops admitting they had never believed their sisters or girlfriends when the latter complained of painful periodsThere were some encouraging findings too Most of Vacharsquos members had shifted from using rags to sanitary napkins and 85 per cent of them did not feel embarrassed to buy napkins and even asked their brothers and fathers to do soSaid one ldquoVacha mein aake mature ho gayi toh bindass hoke laati hoon pad dukaan se Puri koshish kar rahi hoon bhai ko bata doon After coming to Vacha I have matured now I confidently go and buy pads I am making full efforts to go and tell my brother toordquo