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Hola, Namaste, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening friends, who are here and watching us from all around globe.
Firstly, please accept my heartfelt congratulations for hosting the Fifth
Edition of the International Event for appealing Menstrual Dignity. Demanding
menstrual dignity in colonized cultures and discourses on menstrual movement,
as well as overall human rights, is not a simple task.
Secondly, I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude for
inviting me as special delegate. On behalf of Global South Coalition for
Dignified Menstruation, it is my honor and I am truly humbled to be here with
you all.
Let me start my speech by taking you back 43 years to my childhood in
Nepal, a country in the global south that is 15,255 kilometers away from you.
When I was about 7 years old, I learned that menstrual blood is dirty,
and a curse from god. Meanwhile, I witnessed my mother following various forms
of menstrual restrictions. Amongst other things, she was not allowed to mingle
with the male members of the family, not allowed to participate in any social
and religious activities, not allowed to enter the kitchen and so on. I also saw
men yelling at women without any reason. I was traumatize. I felt suffocated,
perpetually grasping for air. I did not like being a girl so I attempted
suicide when I was about 9 years old. Unfortunately, not for me. I failed. I really
wanted to die. I was begging, crying, and pleading with God to convert me into
a boy instead of a girl. I felt equally helpless and hopeless.
5 years later of my failed suicidal attempt or 38 years ago, I had first
menstruation at a time when I was returning from school. I was scared to think that
my family would force me to follow the restrictions that my three sisters and
mother had followed. So I ran away from home for five days to avoid following
the menstrual restrictions. Later, while doing my Bachelor’s degree, I discovered
that there existed a range of menstrual practices whether in educated, urban
societies, and even in the capital city, Kathmandu.
At that moment, I was aware that discriminatory menstrual practices have
been observed worldwide with various names, forms, and magnitudes, regardless
of class, education, region, religion, and so forth. There are places where
it's readily apparent and others where it's not. It has been reported worldwide
that there are over 5000 euphemisms or fake names for menstruation. By
considering all forms of menstrual practices, GSCDM defines menstrual
discrimination as a group of practices that includes taboos, shyness, stigma,
abuses, restrictions, violence and deprivation from resources and services
associated with menstruation throughout the life cycle of menstruators. Regrettably,
the UN and its key partners are misinterpreting menstrual discrimination and
misleading the public. Menstrual discrimination is considered by the UN to be a
harmful traditional practice.
Dear Friends, do you agree that menstrual discrimination is a form of
Harmful Traditional Practice ? I do not for three reasons:
1) On Earth, more than
half of the population is born with a uterus and ovaries, and menstruation is
necessary for humans to survive.
How can this be a 'practice' for communities
and societies?
2) And it is natural. Nature has been the source of it for more
than 3 million years, not like it was created or practiced for a long time as a
tradition.
3) Menstruation is for
all menstruators who are born with uterus and ovaries like girls, women, trans
men, queer and it also a matter of non-menstruators.
It is crystal clear to me that menstrual discrimination should NOT discuss
under harmful traditional practices. Here, I again, urge the UN to discuss
menstrual discrimination as a standalone concern. Let’s shout out together-
Menstrual Discrimination is not a Harmful Traditional Practice.
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I believe that Menstrual Discrimination is itself a form of sexual and
gender based violence. Unfortunately, the UN and its key partners are
misinterpreting menstrual discrimination and are misleading the discourse. For
instance, which form of menstrual discrimination is favor of person’s will?
Dear Friends, do you agree with the UN’s interpretation? I do not for
the following reasons:
1) Any and all forms of
menstrual discrimination are against a person’s will;
2) One of these
restrictions or practices overlap at least two categories of Sexual and Gender-Based
Violence. For example, a menstruating person is not allowed to touch the water in
a community’s source. Here, at once, all category of SGBV like sexual or
emotional or physical or deprivation from services and resources, are included.
Can you calculate how many forms of menstrual discrimination practices and
menstruator experiences during her life span including menopause?
Regrettably, the UN does not acknowledge the
diverse forms of SGBV that are caused by menstrual discriminatory practices
when publishing data on SGBV. How can the data presented by UN be valid or
authoritative if one woman out of three experiences sexual or emotional or
physical violence in her life time?
Again, I urged the UN to acknowledge the menstrual discrimination is a
form of SGBV. It’s high time to reconsider it.
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Additionally, Menstrual Discrimination itself is a violation of human
rights. If you use same menstrual practice here – the fact that it is prohibited
to touch the water source, how many rights have been violated? How many times
has this right been violated in one menstrual cycle and its impact on
non-menstruating days? Here, the right
to dignity, freedom, and equality, right to mobility or participation, right to
health, right to water, right to environment, right to education are violated
at once and may occur many times in a day.
The UN has been advocating human rights for last 76 years, and yet have never
seen the violence of bunch of human rights at once. UN has not seen all the
pain, suffering and struggle of menstruator during menstruation and its impact
in non-menstruating days and throughout the lifespan of that individual.
Let's have a conversation about why the UN disregards the concerns of
menstruators, my friends.
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I often think our seniors, social scientists
have done a lot for us. No doubt they build our foundation what we have been
cheering now. However, I believe they may have overlooked menstruation from the
human rights perspectives.
Do you think the uterus or childbirth is
enough to unpack the unequal power relationship and patriarchy? Before enough
to carry baby, wasn’t there a role of uterus for construction and reinforcement
of power and patriarchy? It sounded like odd question though it is the truth
indeed. Menstruation is not a natural phenomenon only. It’s social as well. It
impacts in every moment and aspects of life no matter whether you born with
uterus and ovaries or not, no matter whether it is about sex selective abortion
or child marriage or gender pay gap or not allowing to touch water source or
climate crisis or SRHR or so on. Therefore, UN and colleagues misinterpreted
and mislead the menstrual movement. Menstruation be should examined as life
cycle approach and even after death in few cultures. And most importantly, it
is not linear and beyond the menstrual products or infrastructure or management
or even health. It has to examine in holistic and life cycle approach.
Dear friends, let’s appeal to UN and its
friends to change its lens to define and address menstruation discrimination
NOW.
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Dear Friends, I am afraid that you may leave
the conference or stop listening my speech because I am challenging the
prestigious and esteemed organization, the UN.
Sorry for being bold but it’s very important
to questioned for deconstruction the menstrual and feminist movement. Let me
share another area of UN is misinterpreted and misleading. The number of
organization which are working around Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights and
recently in Comprehensive Sexual Education is really very high. They spend
abundance of wealth and time. But again, they don’t consider that the
menstruation is an entry for entire SRHR including CSE. If a menstruator does
not understand her menstruation, how can she make decisions while having unsafe
sex or she can receive assistance with emergency contraception or safe abortion
services? She would trapped with other forms of sexual and gender based
violence. If you are really committed for SRHR and CSE, you need to change your
lens NOW that the menstrual dignity as an entry to SRHR in all diversities.
Dear friend, I strongly believe that you are
agreeing with me (pause).
I wonder even if you agree with me. In the
name of menstruation, if you only work on menstrual hygiene or management or
health or period poverty, you are not fully aligned with menstrual dignity. Nor are you aligned with Global South Coalition
for Dignified Menstruation. I gently remind you again that menstrual practice
is not only discriminatory but also complex and multifaceted. Therefore, you
are missing the effects of menstrual practices on the various aspects of
menstruator’s life systemically. You need to put menstrual dignity or dignified
menstruation at the center of your thinking. If you did so, we could develop a
series of indicators to describe menstrual health, management, education, products
or WASH facilities and so on. For instance, GSCDM, propose three P approach for
making menstrual products dignified and four `S’ approach for making WASH
facilities dignified. Likewise, the indicators developed for making our home,
school and workplace dignified. Let’s work together and create the just and
dignified planet for our daughters, granddaughter and everyone.
Dear friends, each moment of our life is a
moment of dignified menstruation moment, no matter who we are. To celebrate this
notion with visible programs may not practical for many of us. Therefore, since
2019, GSCDM initiated an international day for dignified menstruation day on
8th December. I gently remind you all to book December 8th as
Dignified Menstruation Day in your calendar. But that is not enough, let’s capitalize
on all local, national, international moments and days for advocating dignified
menstruation. If you are following GSCDM via social networks, GSCDM is super
active to mark menstrual month under the theme or mantra «menstrual talk,
dignity first».
As feminists, we need to unpack many things within
us. Therefore, GSCDM called menstrual health day for 28 May because our
menstrual blood is clean, pure and there is no need to sanitize it.
Dear Friends, I am pretty sure that you aware about the activities of
GSCDM. But if you don’t, let me highlight very briefly who we are. It is not
formed by any UN or INGOs consortium with a bunch of funds and team members. It
is formed by a group of people and organizations that wanted to be heard. No one listened to our stories, no one acknowledged
our pain and suffering around not just because of discriminatory menstrual
practices but also because the consequences of it. We started with zero penny.
We received threatening emails from big organizations and networks from global
north. I vividly remember their lines in emails, whatsapp groups and Facebook
that GSCDM created confusion to media and government. We were and are not
provided platforms for speak, our voices blocked out, our comments discounted
in zoom chats. Even the friends from global south do not listen us because they
colonized emotionally. It was tough. More than tough. Meanwhile, my tiny team
members at secretariat office and finger counting friends from all around the
globe, helped make GSCDM come alive and support us on the way to «disrupt» everyone
specially the UN who is misleading governments, INGOs, the media and the public
Along with such challenges, GSCDM has been organizing regular webinars,
online and offline research in collaboration with Universities, online and
offline fellowships, online and offline trainings. We developed training manuals.
We published fiction and non-fiction books for development practitioners,
rhymes for young children. We also contributed chapters in nine international
books. In short, GSCDM is working hard to change the narrative around
menstruation from hygiene to dignity and from five days bleeding to life cycle
approach.
Friends, join us! Please get a membership which will take you less than
a minute and is free of cost. You will get resource materials, information,
opportunities and technical support to develop proposals, and so on.
Last but not least, I appeal to join the dignified menstruation movement
and reclaiming our rights which we all deserved.
I wish a very successful conference with the note of «Menstrual Talk,
Dignity First».
Gracious, Thank you.
