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Menstrual Hygiene Practices in Rural India


Today the world is moving fast. The world is opening many doors of development with new technologies and discoveries. India is also one of those developing countries, which is climbing the ladder of progress every day and is waving its flag in the world. But despite this, there are many such issues in India on which no one wants to talk, nor are they considered necessary, but it is not right to ignore these issues, we have to discuss them openly. One of these issues is "Menstrual Hygiene Practices" which is a very important issue from the point of view of progress and health of women. Today we are going to discuss this issue but before that let us know what Menstruation and Menstrual Hygiene is and why it is important.

What is Menstruation?

When a girl reaches adolescence, her ovaries start producing hormones called estrogen and progesterone. Due to these hormones, the lining of the uterus starts thickening once every month. Some other hormones signal the ovaries to produce and release an unfertilized ovum. Normally, the lining of the uterus, which was getting thicker to prepare for pregnancy, breaks down if no pregnancy occurs and comes out in the form of bleeding. This is called menstruation.


It is worth noting that not everyone has menstruation at the same age. In some women, it starts as early as 8 to 15 years of age, although menstruation usually begins in girls between the ages of 11 and 13. At what age, a girl will start menstruating depends on many things. The composition of the girl's genes, eating habits, way of working, the place where she lives, what is the climate of that place, etc. Menstruation occurs regularly at intervals of 28 to 35 days which usually continues till the age of 45 to 50 years. Menstruation lasts for 3 to 5 days for some girls and women while for some 2 to 7 days.


Menstrual Hygiene

During menstruation, women have to go through many physical, hormonal changes. Problems such as pain in the waist, legs, and abdomen, vomiting, headache, dizziness, etc. During this time, women need to take special care of their hygiene which is called menstrual hygiene, lack of which leads to many diseases, in some cases, even infertility.


Menstrual Hygiene practices in Urban and Rural India


Talking about the twenty-first century, the cities of India have progressed a lot as compared to the rural areas. There has been a change in the mindset of the people. Where on the other in villages even today, there is a sadness about having a birth of a girl or there is a desire for a boy. whereas in the cities the condition of girls is many times better. Girls are given the freedom to read, write, move around and do whatever they like, which is also very important for their mental and emotional development. Talking about Menstrual Hygiene, this issue is talked about openly in urban areas. Girls are provided elementary education in schools on Menstruation and Hygiene as well as distribution of sanitary pads in schools from time to time. Girls are encouraged to talk about Menstrual issues with their parents. To solve every small and big problem parents make every effort and boost their morale. Yes, we cannot say that the city has made a hundred percent development on these issues, there are still many such aspects on which it is necessary to be aware, but the status of urban women is somewhat satisfactory as compared to rural India.


On the other hand, focusing on rural areas, It is said that "The soul of India resides in its villages". As per the Census of India, 2011, about 833 million (68.84%) of the total Indian population lives in rural areas. Out of that 48.63% are females and the rest are males. Do those rural women have awareness of their health and their cleanliness? Mostly the answer is No. These unlucky women are facing a lot of problems regarding their health as well as cleanliness at the time of their menstruation. Their lack of proper knowledge of cleanliness during this monthly period is a matter of grave concern which ruins their life which they are very little aware of. If they knew this well, they would not have to face many difficult gynecological problems occurring in their entire urinary tract and reproductive system.


It is often seen that due to lack of resources, lack of education and awareness about personal hygiene, lack of knowledge about hygiene products, such gynecological problems are becoming more and more common with these rural women. She does not talk to anyone about her menstruation. All these shortcomings make them constantly embrace difficult diseases like white leucorrhoea, cancer of the oral cavity of the uterus, infertility and many of them have to lose their lives.



Problems and Causes of Poor Menstrual Hygiene in Rural Areas

According to the report of NFHS 2015-16, only 58 percent of women in the country use sanitary means for menstrual management.


The position of women is behind men in terms of education in India. The situation is worse at the rural level. Due to lack of education, women are not able to understand health-related problems properly. Even at the time of menstruation, women do not take any concrete steps for cleanliness due to lack of information. Even today women in villages use old clothes instead of napkins, due to which the fear of disease remains. Not only this, the clothes used by rural women are not even clean. Apart from this, they still do not know enough about napkin pads. That is why they are neither able to buy it nor are they able to use it. Not only this, even if some women use napkin pads, then they do not know how long to use them. Sometimes they reuse the same pad, which increases the risk of infection.


The situation in cities is a little better in this regard, but even there, at the level of education, there is little discussion on this issue among women. Even in schools, colleges, there is rarely a positive debate among students. Women are taken seriously and their problems are equally considered in city society. The biggest reason for better menstrual Hygiene Practices in Urban Areas is the literacy rate. The literacy rate of women is high in cities, hence they know about their body growth process. It is also observed that most of the girls of urban areas know about menstruation before they start menstruating.


In rural and less developed cities, it is also seen that the napkin pads or clothes used by women are not thrown in the dustbin kept at home out of shame or shame, but secretly throw them outside the house. Due to this, there is a fear of spreading many diseases. At the same time, the environment is also polluted.


Solutions to Overcome Hygiene issues in Rural India

As mentioned above, the biggest reason for poor Menstrual Hygiene Practices in rural India is the lack of information, resources, and facilities. Since the literacy rate of women in rural areas is very low or even negligible in some places. So to solve this issue, the government will have to take many initiatives for the same. Girls should be given complete knowledge about menstruation in schools itself, if possible, such a lesson should be added to the book of Moral Values. In the Anganwadi centers, the necessary sanitary items for women should be available at the least rate. Men should also be made aware of this subject so that women do not have to face any kind of hesitation or social evils and they can also discuss this topic openly in their homes and share their problems with their families. Every hospital in rural areas must have one or two female doctors. The Gram Panchayats should organize awareness campaigns from time to time so that mentality of people can be changed on such issues. And try that there should not be any discrimination against menstruating women and girls.

These are some key points that can bring some positive changes in the condition of women in rural areas. And women of rural areas can also enjoy their freedom as women in Urban.


Conclusion

As we all know how important women are to run the world, without women this world is nothing. That is why it is very important to pay attention to women. In a country like India, where the number of women is similarly very less. In rural areas, the situation is even worse. Even today, the birth of girls is not celebrated. Sometimes girls are killed before they are born. Awareness and safety of women is a very important and important issue in such a country. Women are still not given full facilities and freedom. In cities, women are well educated and know their rights well, but in villages, their situation is quite the opposite. She cannot speak openly, even she cannot share her problems with other women of the house. There should be a change in rural people's mindset towards women and they have to broaden their views on women's status. Today we have reached the twenty-first century and even after that, if the women of our country cannot speak openly and hesitate to talk about their menstruation, then it is a shameful matter. If a country has not been successful in the freedom and well-being of its women, then there is no point in such progress. We have to make efforts that all the women of our country whether it is Rural or Urban are healthy and safe and they can get proper sanitary facilities and no woman should die due to menstrual problems. Only then our country can progress in the true sense.


References - 1.) Wikipedia.

2.) Research Gate.

3.) Alsoasked.com

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