At a time when sanitary napkins continue to be wrapped in newspapers, a stigma continues to shroud the topic of menstrual health. Women across classes and social strata are affected by the lack of functional toilets during their monthly times of need in Madurai.
The privileged have access to sanitary napkins which are averagely priced from ₹10 to ₹12 per pad. Those who cannot afford it, as it is now classified as ‘luxury item’ under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime with 12% tax, are forced to unhygienic scraps of cotton, paper and bark.
Every day is a personal toil for B. Panchavarnam who works at the Central Vegetable Market near Mattuthavani bus stand. She has tried explaining to her co-workers the hazards of using random cloth scraps while menstruating.
Most are unwilling to change. Each visit to the bathroom in the market comes at a cost of ₹5. They state that they cannot afford to spend ₹30 per day on toilet utilities.
“It is very common to see women using dirty pieces of cloth during periods. Several organisations conduct awareness campaigns on dengue and malaria but they don’t focus on menstrual health. Urinary tract infections are a common problem. Several people also have kidney-related issues due to controlling their urine flow for long hours,” she says.
There are a total of 341 toilets under the Corporation limits. Out of them, nine are undergoing maintenance and seven have been specifically built for differently abled persons, according to a senior official of the Madurai Corporation.
Local self-help groups, who maintain the toilets on contract, told The Hindu that they were cleaned twice a day.
Taking into consideration the sudden rise in Madurai’s population, the footfall at these toilets would only increase. Cleaning must be done every one hour, say women from the vegetable market.
Gynaecologist Sujatha Sangumani says that vaginal hygiene in most parts of the district is abysmal. Urinary infection spreads due to water contamination, making it particularly uncomfortable for women.
D. Gabriele, president of Penn Urimai Iyakkam, says that the country has culturally viewed the reproductive health in a rather negative light. “The idea of ‘theetu’ (impurity) is often associated with the periods. Women must be taught never to be ashamed of their bodies and this should largely be discussed in schools and colleges. Unless mothers explain sexual health to their children, they will continue to remain in the dark,” she says.
She adds that the disposal system is poor in the city and vending machines ought to be in place. She, however, notes that sanitary napkins create environmental hazards.
Additional Collector and Project Officer of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Rohini Ramdas (who is now posted as Salem Collector) recently said that unless awareness was raised among women of the drawbacks of poor reproductive hygiene, women’s health would take a back seat.
Several sanitary pad-vending machines and incinerators are present inside each Integrated Women Sanitary Complex.
The reception to the idea is steady. “This too could be replicated in the city if monitoring and surveillance of the machines are done regularly,” she said.
Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar said that this area had been left untouched and awareness campaigns could be conducted in prominent areas of the city. He would consult vendors of the market and reduce the fee for the pay-and-use facility at the Central Vegetable Market if it was too much of a struggle for them.
“I will discuss it with other departments and check if women can avail themselves of free napkins,” he noted.
The vendors at the market are looking for support from established government and non-governmental organisations to aid them in the process of teaching young women on reproductive health.
