📣 For more lifestyle news, click here to join our WhatsApp Channel and also follow us on Instagram
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
You may have come across many social media posts with pictures of women posing with a red dot on their hand. This includes celebrities like Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia and even Diana Penty.
The post is part of the “red dot challenge” which is now gaining attention on Instagram, with people coming forward to raise awareness about menstruation.
The initiative started ahead of International Menstrual Hygiene Day, being celebrated today, March 28, 2020. It is an initiative taken by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to talk about periods and menstrual hygiene.
UNICEF’s red dot challenge was also taken up by social media influencers in 2019. “The red dot challenge aims at busting myths and promote facts on menstrual hygiene, collectively inspiring all–men, boys, women and girls to candidly talk about menstruation, ” Michael Juma, chief of state, UNICEF, was quoted as saying by Times of India in 2019.
Read| Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020: How to make periods more hygienic
“It’s about time we put a ‘period’ to period shaming…there’s no shame in it,” Diana Penty captioned her red dot challenge post.
Dia Mirza stressed on the need to avoid using regular sanitary napkins that are made of plastic and switch to biodegradable ones or menstrual cups.
“Literally two months have gone by, I’ve sat here and waited for the one thing that is constant in the world of absurdity around us. My periods,” wrote actor Kubbra Sait on Instagram.
Miss World Manushi Chhillar highlighted the importance of every girl’s right to accurate information about her body. “Without the right information, girls often don’t know how to safely manage their period. It’s time to break the silence,” she captioned her red dot challenge post.
Stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania wrote, “Covid or not. Whether at home today, or outside in the future. Let’s stop shaming the period. Lend your support. Take a stand.”
“Only 12% of women & girls have access to sanitary menstrual hygiene in India with a majority of them relying on outdated, unhygienic methods during menstruation,” Neha Dhupia pointed out.
Aditi Rao Hydari also took up the red dot challenge.
