Alarming statistic no. 1: In India, more and more girls are either hesitating to enrol in schools or dropping out of school early.
Alarming statistic no. 2: More and more girls are starting their menses before they turn twelve.
A Dasra report by USAID & Kiawah Trust, along with a report by UNESCO UNFA ASRO report correlate and describe this occurrence by pointing to the 26 million girls glaring at the risk of dropping out of school due to their scarce knowledge about their bodies and its very normal biological function of menstruating.
Addressing this issue in simple singalong is the popular feminine-care brand Whisper. Harnessing the power of storytelling, music and reach of famed artists, the brand collaborated with powerhouse singers Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal to create India’s first ever “Period Song”
Marking the fifth edition of their #KeepGirlsInSchool campaign, the song captures the sheer confusion, fear and shock felt by an 8-year-old school girl, Shraddha, as she tries to figure why she can’t stop bleeding down there, while her equally unaware friends suggest the prickly fish bone she had for dinner as the probable cause!
As the plot thickens, Shradha’s teacher spots the trio in the washroom, curiously looking down at her bloodied skirt. The scene then cuts to a co-ed classroom breaking into the jingle “Period ka matlab healthy hai aap.” (Periods mean you’re healthy indeed.)
Breaking the monotony of the trail of period commercials showing a dense blue liquid being poured on a sanitary pad, or the usual trope of athletic girls prancing across town, Whisper’s Period Song wastes no time beating around the bush with the lines
“Body mein uterus lining banaye, phir har mahine use hataye.”
“Khoon ke roop mein ye bahar aaye, par …”
“Darne ki nahi ye koi bhi baat, periods ka matlab healthy hai aap.”
(The uterus prepares a lining, month on month.
Then the lining comes out as blood, but …
Don’t worry at all. It’s normal indeed
Periods mean you’re healthy indeed)
Parents, friends, older sisters or brothers, anyone and everyone can use the Period Song as a communication tool to demystify menstruation for young girls and equip them with vital information about their bodies.
Although conversation around the issues of early menses remain taboo, open communication and discourse provide the only way out of this forced ignorance. Home to such vital conversations are RCI’s many Child Activity Centers (CACs). Strewn across seven slum communities in Delhi and Ghaziabad, these CACs are home to varied groups such as Adolescent Girls Groups, Adolescent Boys Group and even a Parents Group.
Focused Discussions of topics of interest are a key feature of these peer-led groups. Among the Adolescent Girls Group, discussion about Menstrual Health Management remains a top priority. The impact of these discussions is best seen in this instance.
One of the girls of the group, 15-year-old Harini, had left the group and even stopped attending school. All the girls rallied to her home to see what the issue was, only to realize that their friend had dropped out of school because she had begun menstruating. Her peers then brought Harini back to the CAC where an open discussion was held about the issue faced by her. The result was Harini happily rejoining school knowing she was now equipped with knowledge and the support of her friends.
Additionally, outreach members of team RCI routinely venture in numerous such communities to orient adolescent girls about the use of sanitary napkins and best hygiene practices, busting myths around menstruation, informing them about safe disposal of sanitary napkins and even conducting medical checks for indicators of anaemia.
Going forward, RCI is in the works of setting up special camps to detect and treat urinary tract infections among adolescent girls and women of the community.
