Journalism of Courage
In a bid to raise awareness about menstrual management and hygiene, and ensure women receive support from their families during periods, a former sarpanch of a Haryana village has launched a unique campaign in which they paste their period charts at their homes.
Sunil Jaglan, 40, who was a sarpanch of the Bibipur village in Jind district, says, “Two years ago, when my elder daughter was growing up, I wanted to have an open conversation with her over this issue. I started speaking to doctors and gathered all the relevant information. As soon as I learned more about the problems that women face during periods, I decided to bring this issue up for discussion at homes as well as society.”
Father of two daughters, Jaglan, says: “In the last two years, we have pasted such period charts at 2,000 houses in Haryana’s villages especially in Jind, Hisar, Nuh and Gurgaon. We have 20,000 period date charts ready. Whenever people approach us, we send a bundle to them.”
“The idea is simple; girls and women should keep an eye on the schedule of their periods and keep the sanitary pads ready. If they find irregular or excessive menstrual cycles, we encourage them to approach the health workers. In mohalla meetings, we guide them on how they can prevent several related health issues,” says Jaglan, who had earlier worked extensively for the ‘Save the Girl Child’ campaign and formed the ‘Selfie with Daughter’ foundation.
The girls who are now part of this campaign feel they get support from family members in arranging sanitary pads on time. Priyakshi Jakhar, 21, from Balawas village of Hisar, says: “Earlier, we used to hesitate to talk about this issue at home but now I can even ask my father to bring a sanitary pad for me or my father. We have displayed our period charts at a place in the home which is visible to everyone.”
Priyakshi, who has done her M Com from a college of Tosham Bhiwani, is so impressed with the campaign that now she has become an active promoter of it: “We have distributed period charts in 400 homes of Hisar’s ten villages. In every village, we have 30-40 volunteers who help us in assembling the girls and women for related meetings.”
The campaign is not limited to villages and is spreading to the towns too. Deepanshi, 22, who is pursuing MSc in botany from Kurukshetra University, is leading the campaign in her university to paste such period charts in the rooms of girls’ hostels.
“Despite the progress we have made, it is still difficult to ask for a sanitary pad in a classroom if a girl passes through this phase. We are trying to change this mindset.”
Terming it a welcoming step, Haryana’s director general of health services, Dr Sonia Trikha, says, “Historically, such issues have been taboo subjects. It’s important that families talk about this issue, understand the problems women face during this phase and come forward to help them.”
Dr Trikha, who had earlier worked in WHO’s India office and UNICEF as a maternal health specialist, adds, “Whether it’s an office-going woman or housewife or somebody who works in a brick kiln, it’s important for other family members that to be aware what they are going through during menstruation or before menstruation. It’s common nowadays to have other problems associated with menstruation like pre-menstruation tensions which include mood swings. So it’s good to give them space and help them out during this phase.”
