Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 22 Issue 1

“Spot On & Off”: Evaluation of Effectiveness of Self-Formulated Menstrual Hygiene Campaign in Rural India Anshi Aggarwal Abstract - Menstruation is a phenomenon unique to girls. However, it has always been surrounded by taboos that lead to the exclusion of women from many spheres of life. In rural India, the topic is still taboo. One of the biggest challenges that women face is not being educated and not having the resources to get sanitary pads. The present research study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-formulated campaign called “Spot On & Off” to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene among females belonging to three different age groups 8-15, 16-35, 36-60, with most of the girls from the age group 16-35. They live in the rural area of Mewat in Haryana, India. A survey was conducted with 300 female respondents. Post the survey, an awareness workshop was carried out, where videos of gynaecologists explaining what menstruation is, was shown. A post-survey was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the campaign. The respondents’ awareness showed a significant increase from 2.19 to 5.54 out of 10 on average. The study also found out that awareness had a 19% impact on the liking of reusable pads. Evidently, campaigns can exert a large impact on awareness in rural villages. Therefore, organisations need to start working at the grassroots level and reach out to more females in rural communities. Keywords: menstruation; menstrual hygiene; reusable pads; rural area and campaign. I. I ntroduction hen “Vishaka”, a 13-year-old girl from the rural area of Kherla, Mewat in India started menstruating, she was shamed. Her menstruation was construed as a sign of impurity. She has grown up in a rural community where menstruation is a taboo subject that is considered unclean and dirty. As a consequence, Vishaka, as well as many other girls and women, in her community grow up without the necessary knowledge and access to the hygiene resources to manage their menstrual hygiene. Menstruation is the monthly release of blood from the uterine lining in women, is widely understood in urban contexts and the developed world as a normal life phase for females once they reach about 10- 16 years of age (Ndana, 2018, p. 19). However, the menstrual hygiene situation of females in rural India is extremely poor. Old fabric, rags, sand, ash, wood shavings, newspapers, dried leaves, hay, plastic, and other similar materials are used by over 90% of young girls and women instead of sanitary pads. These materials do not absorb blood enough, girls feel shame in discarding or washing and reusing them and in fact many of them end up menstruating on their clothes (“Spot On!: Improving Menstrual Management in India'', 2015, p. 4). The use of these unhygienic materials can lead to many vaginal and other infections, with serious consequences at times. An NGO Dasra published a report in 2014 titled Spot On! which states that more than 20 million girls drop out of school every year due to these challenges of shame and lack of access to proper menstrual management materials or sanitary pads. (Dutta, 2018). Good and hygienic menstrual practices include the use of sanitary pads or tampons to absorb blood, menstrual cups to collect blood, and frequent washing of genital areas. For girls to practice hygienic menstrual practices, they require access to sanitary pads, a private space to change the pads, as many times as needed for the duration of the menstruation period. They also need access to water and soap to wash genital areas, and facilities to dispose of used pads or tampons. There are three main drivers of the abysmal state of menstrual hygiene practice in rural India: lack of awareness, lack of access to sanitary pads, and lack of facilities (“Spot On!: Improving Menstrual Management in India”, 2015, p. 4). The first factor is the lack of awareness of the science underlying the topic of menstruation. Instead, it is stigmatised as a taboo subject. Many women in India (70%) consider menstruation 'dirty', which creates ignorance and ultimately, shame. (“Spot On!: Improving Menstrual Management in India”, 2015, p. 2). Menstrual flow is seen as dirty, polluting, and shameful in many communities. As a result, women wash and hide menstrual cloth in dark, dirty places. The origin of this perception could be said to date back to the Vedic times. In the Vedas , which are the oldest Hindu sacred texts, and considered by many to be the most authoritative of all the texts, it says that it is Indra's remorse for murdering a brahmana manifests itself every month as menstrual flow in women who have taken on a share of Indra's guilt. Women are also forbidden from participating in regular life when menstruating in the Hindu faith. They must be "purified" before returning to their family and daily responsibilities (Anand & Garg, 2015). W © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue I Version I 31 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 C Author: The Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurgaon, Singapore American School, Singapore. e-mail: anshiaggarwal06@gmail.com