The Desi Period Divide: Analysing The Menstrual Equity Gap In Kathmandu

In 2022, Samira’s family from the Nawalparasi district of Nepal celebrated menstruation day by organizing a small event to which her friends were invited. Similarly, Namita Poudel posted a Facebook picture of her daughter in 2021, whose cake on top was inscribed as ‘Happy first Period Sharon’. While this post at the time had been flooded with opinions in comments sections, Sharon’s mother went by “I am not against traditions but I am definitely against the bad ones." This has been a trend set well in a progressive society. 

However, the above stances are just a few exceptions here because the core reality is that menstruation is still taboo. Just at the end of December 2023, the Lumbini province of Nepal made headlines by introducing menstrual leave, becoming the first-ever province to bring in such news. While many were there to shower the province government with applause, few critics were too quick to add their judgment. Those supporting it had an affinity towards understanding women and others said it was an added luxury. 

The Idea Of Untouchability And Impurity

Menstruation in Nepal holds significant social implications; It is so because the traditional and cultural values surround the practice. 'Chhaupadi' or 'untouchability' has long been a tradition where menstruating women, considered 'impure', are secluded in makeshift huts or cowsheds. In 2018, the government of Nepal declared Chhaupadi illegal but the evil practice is still prevalent. The Nepal National Criminal Code says that menstruating girls and women should not be discriminated against and if anyone is found guilty so, would be liable to a fine of 3000 rupees or above. However, this code has not yet come into effect.

Chhaupadi came into practice as a concept of Chaughoth. This is a small hut made of mud or rock, constructed especially for girls and women during menstruation. In the remote places of Nepal like Doti, Achham, Bajura, women follow this with great vigilance because of their beliefs that 'God would punish them'. Efforts were taken to demolish the Chhaupadi sheds between 2011-2015, by the government in Bajhang. However, even after, people were found to be re-building the sheds. 

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Analysing The Menstrual Equity Gap In Kathmandu

Chhaupadi is a problem in the remote districts of Nepal. In Kathmandu, menstruation holds a different meaning, where girls and women are not kept in sheds but are still confined. 'Menstrual equity' feels like only a phrase used recurrently in speaking and writing, but never does its job. Even after so much awareness, advocacy, and programmes around menstruation in Kathmandu, the practice although different in modality, doesn’t differ that much.

The idea that remote areas and cities have a lot of differences is thought by the pool of opportunities and resources in cities, but this is the only loophole that is mostly overlooked and often goes unnoticed. For those who think such practices exist only in remote areas, the experiences of these young girls of Kathmandu make them no longer feel different.

Urban-Rural Divide? 

Rejina (name changed) is a student of Information Technology based in Kathmandu. She is a trained Kathak dancer and an outspoken personality who fiercely puts forward her opinions on what she feels is right. However, one thing she hasn’t been able to do so openly is menstruation; Something she has been experiencing ever since she was 12.

Rejina remembers how at her first period, she cried thinking she was dying as soon as none in the family ever spoke about it. Even with an academically inclined family, she said, “Menstruation is a monthly ritual in my home. I grew up seeing my mother eating out alone in a corner, and wondered what that would be? I only questioned and didn't get the answers by then”. 

For Sakshi, menstruation hits differently. She has altogether four days spent in isolation. During those days, she is forbidden to go to the kitchen or touch anything. It’s only after re-cleansing the body on the fifth day that she can go back to her everyday lifestyle. “I feel, those days feel like life coming to a halt, even the days travel slower”. 

A 22-year-old Simran Amatya, a final year student of Social Work has another story of 'period by equity but poverty by thoughts' but this is not a fault of her own. She said that whenever she goes to buy sanitary napkins, she makes sure to wrap them in newspaper. She also remembers watching every other girl and woman doing that in the market “asking with a low voice and it became something of a shameful kind and I ended up doing the same”. 

Dr Chandani Syangtan Lama, currently a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology, at Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara, said, “Before moving to college as a resident doctor, I did work in Kathmandu Valley. I saw that menstruation wasn’t just a problem in places outside of Kathmandu but even in the city. We encounter patients who delay seeking help from healthcare providers due to social stigma, hampering their daily activities and visits to hospitals with complications requiring blood transfusion. It’s always the health complications that come first to us before the care is taken”. 

Menstruation In Culture And Society

The degree of these practices varies from one home to another. Not too largely, but these principles are also guided by the culture and traditions. Because traditions are the most important aspect of life, many women ensure to observe the ‘Rishi Panchami’ Hindu festival yearly. It is believed that a ritualistic bath and puja would help them cleanse the 'sins' they face for violating restrictions during their periods.

The Post by Onlinekhabar writes, “The women traditionally undergo a detailed bathing procedure and a puja of the Saptarishis (seven saints)." Many believe that a woman who enters the kitchen during periods gets reborn as a dog and her husband as a bull. Priya (name changed) remembers last year's Rishi Panchami when she had to bathe early in the morning despite being sick. “I just washed my body once with one round of water and I did that because skipping the ritual was not an option in my family”. 

Nearly all of the girls sharing their experiences said they didn't mind following the restrictions. However, Nitya Lamichhaney, one of the recent graduates of Kathmandu University, had a different thought about it. “I know menstruation is a natural cycle but during those days I don’t cook and I don’t touch. Sometimes, I just lie but that only makes me feel conscious that what I am doing is wrong as I have been taught that. So, I do all that because that’s what my mother keeps faith in”. 

The Swasthani, a Hindu ritual reading during the Magh month also puts women submissive to their story and shows how they are victims of that natural process. Guided by the socio-cultural restrictions, some of the practices include -- as Amrita Mukherjee writes in a report -- “not touching a male member of the family, plant, tree or fruit during menstruation, not consuming pickles or dairy products, eating alone during menstruation, not entering the kitchen or places of worship, not visiting relatives, or not attending social or religious gatherings”. 

It is even clearer by these stories that letting girls and women just know about menstruation at a very young age is not the only wa we could do to eradicate the issues. Because these voices too, can sometimes be shunned. As Dr Ashmita, a general practitioner at Kist Medical Hospital Gwarko; Kathmandu shared, “Different kinds of patients visit us every day. As a female doctor, on days of menstruation, there have been days where too old men with such stigma come for treatment and I sometimes hold myself back from touching them”. 

Hearing these young girls and professionals on their menstrual experiences, one thing stood out definitely, a common one. That opposing views regarding menstrual practices and taboos; beliefs that menstruation is deeply embedded in society and in the minds of women. Those daughters who have been taught at their age to isolate themselves still pass that ritual from their mothers who conform to do the same. While some did it in the name of religious sentiments, others did it because of the norm. 

In the centre of Kathmandu Valley, there is not a lack of materials, products and awareness but rather a required force that pushes these practices sideways so they don’t come in the way of limiting girls and women. This menstrual study focused on Kathmandu and emphasised the value that sometimes, change doesn’t happen with education or awareness alone. It sometimes is about those experiences, particularly in this study of girls and women to be assertive towards what’s right and wrong.

Outside Kathmandu is remote and the Chhaupadi tradition is a grave issue that prevails, but here after so many women taking charge of their power are following the practice on a subtle level it feels like there is a long way to go to bring about change until then, like Sharon’s celebration, this study hopes to find light those in or not in confined sheds. 

This article was written by Susmita Aryal. Views expressed by the author are their own.