Bringing better menstrual health and stirring hope for a life after prison
You can find a blood-soaked pad anywhere in a women's prison - tucked in a corner near the bed and hanging on the window sill of the bathroom. So when you first talk about menstrual education to women inmates, they ask me what is the point? Getting out of prison is the only thing that really matters to an inmate. I usually counter, "Don’t you want to lead a happy and healthy life when you’re out?" When they start thinking about a life outside prison, that is when they start participating in the workshop. That is when they start listening.
As I begin, I ask them how many of them know why menstruation happens. Generally, only 10% know. Even the elder ones don’t. I see them fascinated when I tell them why it happens and what happens in the body when it happens. Their fascination quickly turns into disgust when I touch the topic of safe sex and physical intimacy. The response I get is ‘Yeh kya gandi baat karne aa gaye’ (why have you come to talk indecent stuff), especially from elderly women. They cover their faces when I begin talking. But I tell them that if a woman does not talk to a woman, who else will she talk to. They eventually come around and start participating.
In the workshop, we teach everything - from maintaining general body hygiene to disposing of the sanitary napkin safely. Some even open up and ask about safe sex practices. In addition to the QnA session, we hold yoga sessions where they learn asanas and mudras that are good for menstrual health. I encourage them to share their learnings from the workshop with their daughters and sisters during official weekly meetings. Many do. The other day, an inmate told me that her daughter's friend recovered from menstrual pain by practicing the mudras she learnt at the workshop.
At the end of the workshop, when these women meditate, many say they felt like they were not in prison. The vibes completely change. And that is the whole point.
- Poonam Madan, HR Professional, Project Pavitra trainer who has taken workshops for prison Inmates, daughters and wives of Convicts and Undertrails, Inmates at Nari Niketan/Observatory homes for run-aways and Destitute adolescents
As told to Vanditaa Kothari
Know more about Project Pavitra, The Art of Living’s initiative to spread menstrual education.
