Bhopal: Several individuals and organisations from the state have joined the UNICEF initiative #RedDotChallenge aimed at creating awareness about menstrual hygiene and busting the taboos and myths related to periods. #ItsTimeForAction is the theme of 2019 Menstrual Hygiene Day (May 28) with a focus on educating and informing girls and boys. UNICEF has partnered with influencer and model Diipa Khosla for executing the ‘Red Dot Challenge’ initiative. Those wishing to join the campaign can do so by posting a photograph of themselves with a red dot on the palm on Instagram, tagging UNICEFIndia.
The Bhopal office of the international body has urged the people to “take up the challenge, encourage colleagues, friends and family to join the campaign because #MenstruationMatters”. Vasudha Vikas Sanshta, Jhabua is one of the organisations that have joined the initiative. Its director Gayatri Parihar told Free Press, “Our objective is to make the girls ‘happy’ about menarche and to ensure that they ‘know’ about it. We tell them that menstruation is a natural process and it is nothing to ashamed of. We have launched the initiative here from May 25 and we propose to reach out to 3,000 adolescents in the Jhabua and the Dhar districts.” “We are also teaching the girls how to make low-cost sanitary pads and how to safely dispose them of after use. The campaign is not confined to adolescent girls. We are also trying to reorient the thinking of men,” she said.
According to Gayatri, her organisation is working for creating awareness regarding menstrual hygiene management among tribal girls since 2008. “When we began, almost 80 per cent of the girls in the area were not even ready to talk about menstruation and even males avoided using the word sanitary napkin,” Parihar added. Nimay Jat, director, changelooms, Synergy, Harda said that in the rural areas, a range of taboos is associated with menstruation. He said his organisation is working for creating menstrual hygiene management awareness under the UNICEF initiative. “Our target is to sensitise 200 adolescents through orientation programmes. On completion of the process, they upload their photos with red dots on their palms on Instagram,” he said.
According to Jat almost half of the tribal people inhabiting the area are completely unaware of menstruation-related scientific facts and believe in all kinds of myths and taboos related to the process. Mohsin Khan, member of Ansh Happiness Society, Bhopal said that taboos related to menstruation are prevailing in society for long and are especially deep rooted in rural areas. “We have been working for busting them. We are supporting this UNICEF initiative and more than 400 individuals have joined the initiative through our efforts. We are holding dialogues with the youth are also providing study material to them,” he said.
