Here is why Indian schools should introduce menstrual awareness programs for students
28th May 2020 marks World Menstrual Hygiene Day and is an annual awareness day that highlights the importance of menstrual hygiene management. It was started in 2014 by NGO WASH to educate people about the importance of menstrual hygiene.
A feminine hygiene brand conducted its annual menstrual hygiene survey and asked women from various cities of India if they think that Indian schools have an appropriate system that educates girls about menstruation.
It is necessary that pre-adolescent kids are told about the importance of menstrual hygiene as a lack of information can lead to many health complications and poor handling of sanitary waste can also be a problem.
More than 95 per cent of women who participated in the survey agreed that Indian schools need to have an awareness program as many of them did not have any prior knowledge about menstruation as adolescents and mistook their onset of periods as an injury or disease.
The main reason why most schools do not have menstrual hygiene awareness programs is because of the stigma attached to periods as Indians still struggle to normalize the menstrual cycle in women and do not view it as a normal bodily function.
One way to ensure that this mentality is changed is by inculcating a system that educates children about menstruation from an early age and for this to happen, it is important that the schools encourage students to participate in such programs.
