We’ve come some way in normalising the conversation around periods.
Period talks are currently being conducted in Delhi Government schools educating teenage girls about menstrual hygiene and busting myths related to it. ‘Break the bloody taboo’ is a campaign by the NGO ‘Sachhi Saheli’ educating teenage girls about the taboos related to menstruation. Nearly 72 Delhi government schools have been covered till now, claims Dr Surbhi Singh from Sachhi Saheli.
Conducting menstrual awareness talks in schools in such a scenario, therefore, was an immediate need.
Dr Surbhi Singh, a gynecologist, gets numerous queries related to touching the pickle, entering holy places, washing hair during periods, etc., from these girls. When I ask her how comfortable these girls are discussing such issues, she says:
The best part is that the talks also involve parents. They try to educate them on menstruation as separate from the myths that have been held in the family.
Mrs Arvind Kaur, a biology teacher from Janki Devi Sarvodaya Kanya Vidhyalaya where recently the talks were conducted, speaks about how the talks not only educate students about menstrual hygiene but also makes them aware them about ‘Good touch and Bad touch’.
Students are handed questionnaires in the beginning of the session – followed by a discussion after their results have been analysed. This is followed by the counsellors listening to the problems and directing the students and their parents on what should be done.
The talks have also been conducted in slum areas such as Shakur Basti. In the last week of March this year, they were even conducted in Tihar Jail by the NGO.
(Nikita Bishnoi is pursuing her Masters in ‘Convergent Journalism’ from AJKMCRC Jamia Millia Islamia. She is interested in sexuality, politics, data and social issues.)
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