“Why are you wrapping menstrual products in the newspaper? It is natural. No need to hide it.”- shared by one of our Action for Equality (AfE) graduates.

A simple question. Yet one that says so much about how menstruation continues to be experienced across many homes, schools, and communities.

Every year on 28 May, Menstrual Hygiene Day reminds us that periods are natural. Yet for many girls and women, menstruation still comes with silence, shame, restrictions, and judgement. The reality is difficult to ignore.

A study found that 1 in 4 girls in India miss school due to menstruation. Another UNICEF study reported that 71% of adolescent girls are unaware of menstruation until they experience their first period. For many, the first period arrives not with preparation or support, but with confusion and fear. Beyond schools, stigma follows women into workplaces too. Reports suggest that many continue to experience discomfort, dismissal, and silence around menstrual health.

Statistics help us understand the scale. But lived experiences reveal the deeper truth.

In Chennai, a 13 year old girl reportedly died by suicide after being period shamed in school. In Nashik, girls were allegedly told they could not plant trees while menstruating because their touch would “burn the plants.”

Last year, reports from Maharashtra’s Thane district described a disturbing incident where schoolgirls were allegedly checked for menstruation by school staff. These incidents are painful to read. But they are part of a larger reality.They remind us how myths, shame, and social pressure continue to shape experiences around menstruation.

The impact reaches far beyond schools. Reports from Maharashtra’s Beed district brought attention to women sugarcane workers undergoing hysterectomies at young ages, often linked to harsh labour conditions and the inability to manage menstruation while protecting wages and livelihood.

Such realities force us to ask difficult questions about dignity, choice, and support.

At Equal Community Foundation, menstruation may not be our central programme theme. But conversations around dignity, gender, and equality naturally bring these realities into the room through our gender transformative programmes.Through our work with adolescents, schools, and communities, we have learned something important. Silence survives when conversations do not happen.

This is why engaging boys matters.

Menstruation is often treated as a girls’ conversation. Yet boys grow up in the same homes, classrooms, and communities. When they remain excluded, myths and discomfort continue.

Through ECF’s Gender Equality Programme (GEP), in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (MSCERT) and the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Pune, in district schools and classroom spaces, young people engage in open dialogue around stigma, taboos, social pressure, and gender expectations. These conversations create room for questions, reflection, and understanding.

After completing the Action for Equality ((Action for Equality programme conducted with adolescent boys aged 12–17 years from low-income communities in Pune), one participant shared: “After joining ECF classes, my shyness went away. I learned to ask questions. Now, my mother and I also talk openly about periods. She explains things to me too. There is no shame.”

Another reflected, “I spoke with my male friends. We discussed the importance of understanding menstruation. It changed something.”

That “something” matters.

Sometimes change begins quietly. A conversation between friends. A question asked without fear. A discussion carried back home.

One of our Action for Equality (AfE) alumni shared, “Now, I support my mother during her period and try to ease her stress in small ways that matter. Earlier, I did not understand this, but now I do.”

These conversations also take place with community women and local stakeholders in low-income communities in Pune. As part of our Gender Transformative Programme, we have been working in these communities and witnessing shifts in attitudes and behaviours over time. These discussions are further strengthened through collaboration with other expert organisations, enabling deeper and more grounded engagement beyond programme spaces.

Because stigma is rarely held by one person alone. It is shaped by society and can only shift through collective dialogue. This is why we intentionally take these conversations beyond immediate programme settings and engage different spaces within the wider community ecosystem.

In schools, colleges, workshops, and intensive training spaces, we consistently engage with themes of stigma, menstrual stigma, taboos, social norms, and gender, while bringing intersectionality to the forefront of discussions. A core objective of our Gender Transformative Programme is to go beyond surface-level awareness and explore root causes. Like the deep, layered barriers created by society and the ways in which conditioned mindsets shape behaviour, beliefs, and everyday practices.

Because no one should feel shame for something so deeply human.

#MenstrualHygieneDay #GenderEquality #GenderTransformativeProgramme #BreakTheStigma #MenstruationMatters #SRHR #AdolescentHealth #YouthEngagement #CommunityEngagement #GenderNorms #SocialChange #EqualCommunityFoundation #ChaloSochBadalteHai

 

Authored by Urasmita Ghosh, Senior Associate – Communications , Equal Community Foundation 

 

Photography courtesy: Alex Sunshine