My Kind of Law

We all talk about changing the world. While some consider technological advancements as one of the most authentic benchmarks of a developed world, some prefer effective societal changes to bring about a massive transformation in human existence. 

Suppose, one day, you are given the liberty to enact a law. A path-breaking law that has the power to create ripples all around. What would it be? What kind of law would you prefer?

I am pretty clear about this. Given a choice, I would like to enact a law under which women and girls in India will be receiving free sanitary products from both the Central and State governments. 

Period poverty is nothing new. Much has already been spoken about it. I think even before legislating or enacting such a law, the existence of this problem needs to be acknowledged first. Attention should be given to those unheard female voices whose lives were never the same after they bled for the first time.

In 2018, following a long-drawn campaign by activists, the government had made a tax reduction of 12% on sanitary products bringing down the average cost of 10 sanitary napkins to Rs. 88 from Rs. 100. But, is this enough? Can a woman surviving in Indian villages afford Rs. 88 per month as part of her period expenses?

Millions of women in India use ashes, unhygienic cloth, reusable cloth pads, leaves, etc. in place of proper and hygienic sanitary products. Is this even human? A country that boasts of celebrating women power through grand and pompous occasions like Durga Puja and Navratri, gives no heed to the cries and agonies of innumerable women and girls who struggle every month to manage their period, a completely natural, biological, and beautiful process that marks the transition from girlhood to womanhood. 

Following J.Jayalalitha's napkin revolution in 2011 in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, the State government of Tamil Nadu has introduced the Free Sanitary Napkin Scheme 2021. In this scheme, girls enrolled in government schools in urban areas will receive free sanitary napkins as well as in-house female patients in government medical institutions. 

This is of course a welcome move. But, what about the remaining 28 states? While countries like France, New Zealand, and Scotland have already started providing sanitary products to schools since the beginning of the new academic year in 2021, India is yet to achieve a lot more, putting an end to period shaming being the first step.

It's high time that society sheds its garb of hypocrisy. The same blood that pushes millions of girls and women to remain confined and forces them to stay away from places of worship, surprisingly becomes desirable when it stains the nuptial bed of a newly married bride after her first night.

What's with us? Why can't we treat blood as blood? Why do we resent the colour red when it appears on the skirt of a young, adolescent girl? Why do we feel uncomfortable when advertisements of sanitary products air on media? Why do we silence our daughters on this purely biological process?

Periods are natural. Periods are normal. They are as natural as the circle of life and death. They are as normal as breathing and our heartbeats.