Honored to not discriminate against menstruation

"Food is the same, the biggest concern was sleeping during menstruation," said 24-year-old Sanu, a resident of Vimkot Maitighar, Melekh Rural Municipality of Achham, "Hearing about the cases of people being bitten by snakes and raped inside the camp, I used to get scared. When she was menstruating, she used to worry about how to cut five days off.'' She said that she keeps worrying about what will happen during the next period.

24-year-old Sanu, who had her period for the first time at the age of 16, says that the pain and fear she experienced when she had to spend 450 days in a shed for 5 days every month during the eight years between now is indescribable. She said that there is no limit to happiness. After passing her BA, it took her almost four years to explain to her family that menstruation discrimination is not just a superstition but a crime.

After reminding her in many ways, now all her family, including her mother-in-law, have not only agreed to let her stay inside the house during menstruation, as in normal cases, the discrimination in food has also disappeared. Along with her, her two menstruating nieces also live inside the house. In an event organized in Gadarai, while being honored after giving up menstruation discrimination, she said, 'You may think this is normal, but I am as happy as if I have been released from prison.' There is still a tradition of having to stay outside the house and not being able to eat curd and milk during menstruation. But women like Sanu have bravely started opposing this wrong practice. They say that sometimes when they live together with five or six people of the village in the only narrow neighborhood far away from the settlement, there is no place to stretch their legs, there is no place to sit, sometimes they have to live alone in fear.

Premjala Chauhan of Ward 7 said that she rebelled against discrimination after she had to experience such incidents as a snake falling on her body during the rainy season by pitching a tent on the farm wall on a day when there was no place in the shed. She said that when she was in the house in the beginning, in a society rooted in the belief that one should not come close to the house, one should not touch the water stream, and the deity becomes unfaithful when she is angry, she said that now, others have started to do her learning. "For the past one year, I have been staying indoors during my period (chow). Nor Devideuta is angry. Something has happened at home. This is just an empty superstition,' she said. Nothing has happened to anyone so far.'

Jamana Rokaya of Gadrai said that after living indoors and eating food like before, most of the women here have stopped farming. It was customary not to. At first, I was very scared. At first we sat inside the house and slowly started eating milk and curd. In the end, nothing happened to anyone.'

The women here are very sorry for suffering by following the traditional tradition for a long time. They are also happy that they have understood that the Chhau practice is bad even though it is late. Ward president Ramanand Joshi said that after learning about the discrimination and wrong practices during menstruation, violence against women and crimes against human rights, he started rebelling against corruption.

27 women of Khaptadchanna Rural Municipality 7 who dared to break the superstition in this way have been honored by Vafat Rural Municipality, Non-Governmental Organization Green Tara Nepal, Rural Education and Environment Development Center and local women's agriculture cooperative who played a role in social transformation. Honoring the women who did not discriminate against menstruation, Village Vice Chairman Bishnu Kumar Thapa said that discrimination against menstruation is a hindrance to the entire development of women and the campaign started by conscious women against it is worthy of respect. "The courage you have taken to break this superstition is truly respectable," he said. "This will inspire others to stand against discrimination."