Identifying the Status of Menstrual Hygiene Management

For women, the onset of puberty is marked by menstruation. To bleed is natural and indispensable essence of being a woman. However, innumerable myths and taboos perceive menstruation as a negative phenomenon and lead to pessimistic attitudes toward this biological experience and women going through it. The culture of silence around menstruation increases the perception of menstruation as something shameful that needs to be hidden, and may reinforce misunderstandings and negative attitudes toward it. Proper menstrual hygiene management is the most significant and crucial aspect of female health but has been grossly neglected not just in developing countries but across the globe.

The paper presents ground assessment of the knowledge, beliefs, and source of information regarding menstruation among the adolescent school girls and also identifies the status of menstrual hygiene among them. This study was undertaken, under the Innovation Project of Delhi University in the year 2015-16. This interdisciplinary undergraduate program had two components: Awareness generation and action oriented. Awareness generation was related to providing information through workshops about menstruation among the college going young women adolescent school girls of the secondary school. Action component was related to production of low cost sanitary napkins by using simple technology that has been locally developed.