Category: Health

Menstrual health and cultural practices

Menstrual health and cultural practices

They also Dance nutrition guidelines how Menstruual Nutritious snack options use and culutral the pads culfural soap pradtices water and then dry them to kill bacteria. Even though they try to make toilets very accessible for us, people with disability, especially wheelchair users. Knowledge of menstruation and good hygiene practice has been recognized in literature as having an essential influence on menstrual hygiene practice just as the present study also found [ 1216 ]. Arch Women Heal Care.

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India: Managing Menstrual Hygiene

Menstrual health and cultural practices month, abd. Millions of heqlth girls, women, transgender men and non-binary persons are unable to manage anv menstrual cycle in a dignified, healthy way. The onset of menstruation means Natural liver detoxification methods new phase Gluten-free travel tips and new vulnerabilities — in the cjltural of adolescents.

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UNICEF is a global leader in menstrual health and hygiene Nutritious snack options through Gut-brain connection and humanitarian programmes across the world. We commit to building programmes that increase confidence, knowledge, and skills — and improve access to materials and facilities — for adolescent girls, women, transgender and non-binary individuals to manage their menstruation safely and with dignity.

UNICEF primarily supports governments in building national strategies across sectors, like health and education, that account for menstrual health and hygiene. Our programmes are developed to reinforce gender equality. We recognize and implement special efforts to reach and co-design solutions with girls with disabilities, girls from minority groups, and transgender and non-binary menstruators.

By strengthening confidence and negotiation skills, menstrual health and hygiene programmes can help people who menstruate overcome obstacles to their health, freedom and development.

In Senegal, UNICEF is exploring new and creative ways to locally produce menstrual supply kits, so girls won't miss out on learning.

How advocacy in schools help destigmatize menstruation. An Urgent Call for Equitable Digital Skills Development. Children in Gaza need life-saving support. Read more. Search UNICEF Fulltext search. Home Programme Menu Water, Sanitation and Hygiene WASH Water Sanitation Hygiene Handwashing Menstrual hygiene WASH and climate change Water scarcity Solar-powered water systems WASH in emergencies Strengthening WASH systems.

Hygiene Menstrual hygiene. Available in: English Français. Jump to Challenge Solution Resources. Ashrita Kerketta and Ursela Khalkho participate in a session on peer education organised by Srijam Foundation as part of the Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management for Adolescents Girls project in Jharkhand.

We work in four key areas for improved menstrual health and hygiene: Social support Knowledge and skills Facilities and services Access to absorbent materials and supportive supplies UNICEF primarily supports governments in building national strategies across sectors, like health and education, that account for menstrual health and hygiene.

Adolescent girls read booklets about menstrual health at the Menstrual Hygiene Day event held in the KBC-1 camp for internally displaced persons in Kutkai. More from UNICEF. Menstrual Hygiene: Breaking the Silence among Educators Period: The Menstrual Moment.

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: Menstrual health and cultural practices

Menstrual Health and Hygiene Global Health Promotion. In other places, burning menstrual products is believed to cause infertility. UNFPA has four broad approaches to promoting and improving menstrual health around the world. Some also used what they called a sakati literal translation would be bathing shelter, but in this case, a space also used for urinating. Retrieved 13 November Yurok women used a small hut near the main house.
Menstrual hygiene WASH United a Menstruation matters to everyone, everywhere. Sugita View author publications. Transgender men and non-binary persons also face discrimination due to their gender identity, depriving them of access to the materials and facilities they need. Oxford: University of Oxford Publication. View Article Google Scholar
Menstruation Around the World – Your Period PMS manifests differently in different people and may vary between menstruation cycles. BMJ Open 7:e Furthermore, the need for maintaining good menstrual hygiene was emphasized and could have accounted for good menstrual hygiene practices by majority of the respondents. Dutta D, Badloe C, Lee H, House S: Supporting the rights of girls and women through Menstrual Hygiene Management MHM in the East Asia and Pacific Region: Realities, progress and opportunities. UNFPA, UNICEF, UNRCO.
Meganav - EN For instance, many women regard their monthly period as prachices Nutritious snack options Menstdual they are healfh pregnant. However, the Natural liver detoxification methods Quercetin and diabetes also help raise awareness that the onset of menstruation menarche does not signify a physical or psychological readiness to be married or bear children. Share on Twitter. These may have significant impacts on some people's ability to manage their menstruation safely and with dignity:. Article PubMed Google Scholar. The Kathmandu Post
Menstrual health and cultural practices

Menstrual health and cultural practices -

No personal identifiers were recorded; anonymity and confidentiality of the study participants were maintained throughout the study period. De-identified data was collected on password protected tablets.

The study was approved by the Ethics Review Board ERB at the Nepal Health Research Council NHRC and by the Institutional Review Board IRB at the University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB. Of participants, completed the survey and were included in the analysis.

Participants were included in the study based on the following inclusion criteria:. Survey questionnaires were designed and developed by investigators at the Nepal Fertility Care Center NFCC and UAB, based on socio-cultural appropriateness about menstruation, menstrual hygiene and practices in Nepal.

The program allowed pull-down, multiple choice and open-ended questions in the Nepali language. The survey consisted of 13 demographic questions and 22 questions related to menstruation, menstrual hygiene, socio-cultural taboo, beliefs and practices. All female surveyors were centrally trained before the study and were well versed with the content and objectives of the survey.

Quality control and assurance were maintained throughout the study period. Survey data were collected on tablets protected with multiple layers of passwords that were changed daily.

Literate participants entered their data themselves directly on study tablets and for participants who could not read or write, the data were entered by female study staff. The data were translated into English by investigators who were fluent in both Nepali and English.

Univariate descriptive statistics are reported using frequency percentages. Both column and row percentages are reported as appropriate. Logistic regression was used to report the unadjusted associations of socio-cultural practices with ethnicity, education, marital status and family type.

Statistical significance was set at 0. Survey data was imported into excel sheets and all statistical analyses were performed in SAS 9. Of women surveyed, completed all questionnaires in the survey and were included in the analysis. Table 1 shows the demographic and cultural characteristics of participants who completed the survey.

The majority of participants were Hindus Only Nearly half of the participants Owning a house Table 2 shows socio-cultural practices among urban Nepalese women in the Kathmandu valley during menstruation. Of all the study participants, More than half of the participants Nearly two-thirds of the participants Socio-cultural and religious perceptions measured using the Likert scale are reported in Table 3.

When asked about the extreme practice of Chhaupadi , more than three-quarters Another Even though Given the opportunity, A majority of the participants, heard about menstruation for the first time from their mothers Unadjusted associations of some of the socio-cultural practices during menstruation with ethnicity, education, marital status and family type are shown in Table 5.

Education level and family type were not found to be significantly associated with the practice of purifying the bed on the fourth day of menstruation p -value 0. This study is one of the first studies to highlight perceptions of urban Nepali women on socio-cultural practices and restrictions surrounding menstruation.

A vast majority still believed in purifying the kitchen, beds or other household materials on the fourth day of menstruation. Women belonging to Janajati and other ethnic groups were less likely to follow the socio-cultural restrictions during menstruation. Our findings highlight deeply-rooted cultural and religious beliefs associated with menstruation in Nepal, and are supported by previous studies that reported resistance to change, entrenched patriarchal values, fear of angering the gods, lack of education on menstrual health, hygiene and societal pressure as some of the major factors contributing to these menstrual restrictions [ 3 , 16 , 20 ].

Ritualistic purity is a basic tenet in Hinduism and beliefs that menstruation is unclean are pervasive [ 20 ]. Menstruation-related socio-cultural practices have become significantly less stringent in the past few decades with initiatives from the Nepalese government and other non-governmental organizations NGOs , specifically those focused on ending Chhaupadi ; however, many deep-rooted cultural beliefs still exist in the society.

Even though women in urban areas of Nepal reported attending social gatherings, visiting workplaces and relatives while menstruating, very few actually reported attending religious gatherings or entering places of worship while menstruating.

Having its origins in Bahunistic principles, fatalism flourishes in the stratified caste system of Nepal [ 23 ]. Since it originated in the Brahmin-Chhetri caste groups, it is possible that women in these higher caste groups may have stronger beliefs in fatalism. Perhaps women consider that it was their fate to have been born as a woman, and thus they must observe the prevailing menstrual restrictions.

They cannot change this expectation because it was written into their fate; which in turn keeps them adhering to societal restrictions, without ever questioning them [ 23 ]. Not surprisingly, our findings show that socio-cultural and religious restrictions during menstruation were more pervasive among Brahmin women, compared to women from other ethnic groups, and the very origin of fatalism has its roots in the Brahmin group [ 23 ].

Other socio-cultural restrictions including not eating with family, not touching pickled foods, not cooking food and not visiting relatives when menstruating were not strictly followed by the study participants.

The fact that nearly three-quarters of the participants were encouraged by their mothers to practice menstrual restrictions clearly indicates that adherence to menstrual restrictions are instilled and perpetuated by mothers, and interventions that aim to bring social change on this issue should in particular incorporate attention to mothers or female guardians.

Given that a majority of the participants were young and had never been married, it may be that the sample of urban Nepalese women recruited for this study had more flexible responses towards socio-cultural restrictions associated with menstruation than previous generations.

These findings emphasize how patriarchal society in Nepal sets rules and regulations for menstruating women, how women accept and follow the restrictions imposed on them by the society [ 20 , 24 ].

Decision individuals make regarding daily health practices is an outcome of dialectical interplay between social structure life chances and agency life choices.

They may not feel happy or content towards these practices, however, this is an example of how social structure plays a significant role in shaping and determining routine behaviours including health lifestyle.

In this case, perhaps broader social structure i. Unable to modify habitus, women may feel ambivalent as they keep accepting and practicing menstrual restrictions. However, there is the possibility that women may want to take a break from these events, as they perform most of these tasks on a daily basis.

On the other hand, only 8. Having acquired higher school-based formal education and not living with conservative joint families had a positive effect against menstruation-related restrictions among urban Nepalese women.

Eradicating poverty and societal inequalities, educating women on menstrual hygiene and health, accessibility and affordability of menstrual hygiene products, access to proper sanitation, clean water and privacy are important steps in menstrual hygiene management MHM [ 3 , 26 ].

Even though our survey did not include information on access to toilets, menstrual hygiene products or their disposal, three-quarters of the participants agreed that menstruating women should be able to use the washroom.

Proper sanitation, safe and secure toilets and clean water are not only important for MHM, but are basic human necessities [ 3 , 20 ]. Social and dietary restrictions should not be allowed to affect the physical and psychological health of menstruating girls and women.

The fact that a majority of our study participants did not follow social or dietary restrictions show the positive impact of social workers, public health officials, government and NGO staff in reducing stigma and superstitious beliefs associated with menstruation in Nepal.

Even though the menstruation restriction practices are less severe than Chhaupadi , educated and urban women are still victims of guilt, insecurity and humiliation. It is also highly likely that menstrual restrictions and perceptions were under-reported by participants in our study and cannot be generalized to all urban women in Nepal.

For this study, we did not collect data on menstrual hygiene education and practices, or data from remote, rural areas of Nepal. As such, the questionnaires are not validated; but a pilot study was conducted to assess feasibility and language clarity.

This is an understudied field and future efforts will be required to validate the tools in other settings within the Hindu religion framework and culture. Overall, the findings from our study throw light on existing social discriminations, deep-rooted cultural and religious superstitions among women, and gender inequalities in the urban areas of Kathmandu valley in Nepal.

While most respondents agree that every menstruating female should have access to all types of facilities and services, the large percentage of women stating their adherence to some form of menstrual restriction exposes a large gap in practice. The need to close this gap between knowledge, attitudes and finally practices among urban Nepali women to bring about social changes is imperative, but impossible without targeted interventions that create environments for women in Nepal to understand and access their right to self-determination.

Our study findings show that even though most participants disagreed with extreme menstrual restriction practices in the urban areas of Kathmandu valley, Nepal, there were social discriminations, deep-rooted cultural and religious superstitions, and gender inequalities that continue to affect women during menstruation.

Targeted education, awareness and interventions with focus on menstrual hygiene and gender sensitization are needed to make practical changes in knowledge, attitude and deep-rooted cultural and religious practices during menstruation. Bhartiya A. Menstruation, religion and society. Int J Soc Sci Hum.

Google Scholar. Hennegan J, Shannon AK, Rubli J, Schwab KJ, Melendez-Torres GJ. Women's and girls' experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis.

PLoS Med. Article Google Scholar. Amatya P, Ghimire S, Callahan KE, Baral BK, Poudel KC. Practice and lived experience of menstrual exiles Chhaupadi among adolescent girls in far-western Nepal. PLoS One. Sommer M, Sahin M. Overcoming the taboo: advancing the global agenda for menstrual hygiene management for schoolgirls.

Am J Public Health. Acharya A, Yadav K, Baridalyne N. Indian J Community Med. Das P, Baker KK, Dutta A, Swain T, Sahoo S, Das BS, et al. Menstrual hygiene practices, WASH access and the risk of urogenital infection in women from Odisha. India PLoS One.

Dahal K. Nepalese woman dies after banishment to shed during menstruation. Anand E, Singh J, Unisa S. Menstrual hygiene practices and its association with reproductive tract infections and abnormal vaginal discharge among women in India. Sex Reprod Healthc. Ranabhat C, Kim CB, Choi EH, Aryal A, Park MB, Doh YA.

Chhaupadi culture and reproductive health of women in Nepal. Asia Pac J Public Health. Gaelstel A. Women in Nepal suffer monthly ostracization. The New York Times. Yadav RN, Joshi S, Poudel R, Pandeya P. Knowledge, attitude, and practice on menstrual hygiene management among school adolescents.

J Nepal Health Res Counc. Robinson H. Chaupadi: the affliction of menses in Nepal. Int J Womens Dermatol. Kadariya SA, AR. Chhaupadi practice in Nepal- analysis of ethical aspects.

Medicolegal Bioethics. Karki KB, Rothchild J, Pope N, Bobin NC, Gurung Y, Basnet M, Poudel M, Sherpa LY. Pokharel S GK. Nepal outlaws menstruation huts, but what will take their place?

CNN USA [updated august 27, Accessed 20 Nov Assessment Study on Chhaupadi in Nepal: Towards a Harm Reduction Strategy. Kathmandu: Nepal Fertility Care Center; Accessed 22 Oct Cardoso LC, Clark CJ, Rivers K, Ferguson G, Shrestha B, Gupta J.

Menstrual restriction prevalence and association with intimate partner violence among Nepali women. BMJ Sex Reprod Health. Baumann SE, Lhaki P, Burke JG. Glob Public Health. Thapa S, Bhattarai S, Aro AR. SAGE Open Med. Crawford M, Menger LM, Kaufman MR.

Cult Health Sex. Su Y, Yoon SS. Epi info - present and future. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. Cameron MM. On the edge of the auspicious: gender and caste in Nepal. UoI, editor.

Chicago: University of Illinois Press; Bista D. Fatalism and development: Nepal's struggle for modernization. Calcutta: Orient Longman Limited; Situation of children and women in Nepal. Accessed 22 Dec Cockerham WC.

Health lifestyle theory and the convergence of agency and structure. Indeed, on any given day some million women and girls are menstruating.

But they often do it in shame and secrecy, while many lack access to water, sanitation, hygiene facilities and products so they can manage their menstruation with dignity.

And a recent documentary film as well as new podcasts are shining a light on the taboos, stigmas and costs of menstruation. These social and financial constraints remain particularly stark in low-income countries, forcing girls to miss school and marginalizing women in their own families and communities.

Canada supports global programs focused on maternal and child health that address cultural norms and practices surrounding menstruation and their impact on individuals and societies. Sumi is the founder and secretary of the Adolescent Girl Power Group in Thakurgaon, Bangladesh.

Adolescent Girl Power Groups AGPGs bring together young women to learn about sexual and reproductive health and menstruation. They also develop life skills and carry out projects that better their communities.

Sumi, 18, founder and secretary of the AGPG in the remote community of Thakurgaon in northern Bangladesh, says its teenage members develop small businesses and save money for their school fees, health needs and unexpected expenses. They also speak up on issues, for instance fiercely advocating against child marriage.

She says the biggest value of girls learning about menstrual health is they can speak to their families about it. The AGPG also led a mass signature campaign to stop sexual and gender-based violence.

Adolescent girls in Kigutu, a rural village in southern Burundi, are learning about menstrual health and hygiene through the Mutima Integrity project, under the All Mothers and Children Count program.

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