Did you know that in many parts of rural India women are excluded from taking part in their normal day activities when menstruating – not being able to enter the kitchen, touch food or come in to contact with men. Each village will have thier own rules in dealing with the incredibly taboo subject of periods. It is considered dirty and impure and women go to great lengths to conceal the fact that she ever has a period. Around 70% of women in India do not have access to sanitary products and use old cloth, newspaper and dried leaves to help absorbion and many girls don’t attend school because they don’t have an effective way of managing their period.
When a girl starts her period is it such a prominent time in the her life. Not only can she reproduce but her natural monthly energy cycle starts, something which deserves to be celebrated. Understanding your cycle can offer a deep connection with your body and harness great creativity. So it breaks my heart to hear that the very existence of something so natural, powerful and female is so enormously disregarded.
I feel incredibly privileged to have access to a choice of sanitary products.
However…
Did you know that in the UK, 4.3 billion disposable sanitary products are used every year. On average a woman uses over 11,000 tampons or pads in their lifetime, which all end up in landfill or in the sea. This has an enormous impact on the environment not to mention her wallet.
A solution to both problems… the menstrual cup!
Now I’ll be honest, I tried this out a couple of years back and was a little freaked out by it. Since then I’ve done a lot of work on myself, feeling more connected to my body and my cycle. So when a friend suggested I got one for my travels I ordered one online and I feel so amazingly liberated using it. I hugely recommend you try one out, you can order one here:
I feel very passionate about the situation in India so I did a bit of research on charities doing work to raise awareness and tackle the taboo around feminine health. The Cup are doing some great work in Africa training local women up to be mentors to teenage girls, delivering workshops on menstrual health and distributing a menstrual cup as part of the programme. They hope to offer a similar programme in India which I’d absolutely love to be involved in.
Try the cup – it’s the new love of my life!
If you decide to buy one please use the mooncup link. I love it so much I signed up to be a Mooncup Affiliate and get a teeny bit of commission on sales through my blog. With love x
