Coimbatore school incident not rare; period stigma still common in TN

The incident of a school in Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu making a Class 8 Dalit student write her annual examination outside the classroom as she was on her period may have come as a shock to many. However, taboo and stigma related to menstruation still prevails in the state, with menstrual segregation and discrimination practised in many dominantly Hindu households, even in urban settings.

Jayanthi (name changed), who now lives alone in Chennai, says that until her college days in her hometown Trichy, she was given a separate mat, plate, spoon, tumbler, bedsheet and pillow to sleep right inside her own bedroom during her periods. Her family ensured that she did not enter the prayer room or even get a glass of water from the kitchen because periods brought “impurity”.

Torturing women

"I still have to follow this system when I go home. When my friends visit me at home and, if one of them is menstruating, I wouldn't tell my family but I would let them sit on my bed and go around the house. Now, I don't follow the same patterns living alone in Chennai because it seems very illogical. Who else is supposed to cook, clean or do household works for me?" asks Jayanthi.

While many women find such practices discomforting and restrictive, it is not easy for them to oppose them because of the deeply ingrained ideas of menstruation being impure and religious beliefs.

Also read: TN: Menstruating Dalit girl writes exam outside classroom, principal suspended

Ramya’s suffering

For Ramya, it was a common practice for women in her family being isolated during her periods.

"We are not only kept in isolation inside the house in my village but menstruating women are not even supposed to use the front door of the house while going out. We have to use the back door. We are also not supposed to sit in the front side, as it is said that periods bring impurity to the house. I cannot touch anyone or anything before taking a head bath every day," Ramya explained.

Away from discrimination

However, after her marriage recently, she stopped following these habits and understood that scientific reasoning was what she wanted to pass on.

"While I ensure hygiene, I sleep on the bed, bathe as per usual timings, as per my comfort. My mom doesn’t like my change of behaviour but she would gradually understand that as a generation changes, she has to stop forcing her traditions on us. I have to break this pattern so that my daughter doesn't suffer like me," said Ramya.

Also read: Period pain or cramps? What to eat and avoid, according to science

Defending segregation

On the other hand, such practices are defended as cultural practices that were meant to offer rest to menstruating women and prioritise basic hygiene. However, many working women say that these practices only add to their discomfort and have become a means of oppression.

For Nandini, a 27-year-old IT employee, it is not just the menstrual cramps but just staying at home during her periods is the most challenging part.

Working women’s pain

"I work from home about four days a week. My mother does not allow me to go to the living room, kitchen or sit on the sofa, chairs or the bed, as periods are considered to bring impurity. I am supposed to restrict myself only to the floor in one of the rooms for three days,” she said.

“I should work from there, eat there and even sleep there. It is very uncomfortable because of the cramps and such practices add to the same. I have now chosen to go to my office on the days of my periods because I can find some comfort to sit on a proper chair and rest at least there," she added.

Also read: Women say periods not ‘imagined affliction’, leave at workplace a valid option

Opposition to age-old custom

Arguing that isolation is not a means to provide rest to a menstruating woman, menstrual therapist and educator Kavya Menon says that it is not justified because it is an imposition and not a choice.

"Maybe it helps women engaged in physical labour to get some rest but it should not hinder a woman's basic rights. Menstruation is not impure. While gender-based discrimination is always there, caste discrimination such as in the Pollachi incident makes it worse. It is engrained in the minds of people that periods are impure and religious beliefs are linked to it," she said.

Making women aware

Kavya adds that if women and children are treated fairly without infringing their basic rights, there would not be a need to fight against menstruation-based discrimination.

"It is incidents like these that necessitates menstrual rights to be categorised and propagated in society. If that's what is required, maybe policies need to be focused towards the same," she added.

Also read: ‘Appalling to see such ignorance’: Kavitha slams Smriti Irani on menstruation remarks

Women’s rights

Expressing displeasure over the Coimbatore incident, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, a former chairperson of National Commission for Women, says that not only is it inhuman but illegal to discriminate with a female based on menstruation in any form at schools, colleges, workplace or even their own homes.

"Any discrimination is disempowering a girl and making her feel that she is weak just because she is on her periods. We need to enable women to be able to handle her periods, not add to the physical and mental toll on them."

The taboo surrounding menstruation also keeps the knowledge of menstrual rights limited and highlights the need to teach the younger generation on exercising their basic rights when menstruating. Such an initiative would also help to educate women in the family settings to put an end to the patriarchal practices that root from gender-based discrimination.

‘End discrimination’

Lalitha added that women need to be taught that extrusion is not about the gender.

"The discrimination is only going to make them feel like they are the weaker sections of the society. No one has the rights, including parents, to extrude the child in any way in their own homes. It's a basic human right to be allowed to stay safe and comfortably when menstruating. It cannot be defended as a means to provide rest but it should be a choice of the girl themselves not a restrictive move," she said.

Also watch: Why Smriti Irani is against period leave for women

The recent incident has sparked an outrage to put an end to the patriarchal practices that root from discrimination. As women continue to speak out against these discriminatory practices, there is hope that future generations will be free from the shackles of menstrual taboos.