Not just a piece of cloth..

Menstruation: a saga of taboos.. The subject of menstruation is a taboo in India even amongst women, due to cultural

reasons and due to lack of awareness.

Some common don’ts for a menstruating women :

Don’t – see birds – sit at the doorstep– go near a new born baby – touch stored food– see men before bathing– touch pooja ( prayers ) things– touch plants– wear flowers– touch infants– go to the temple– go out at noon– let dogs shouldn't eat leftover food – let lizard eat blood tissues – let the mother be the first to see a menarche girl– a widow be the first to see a menarche girl

Some of these myths help perpetuate the impression that menstruation is ‘bad’ or is a ‘sin.’ This prevents a lack of open discussion even within family members especially in less educated communities about how to handle monthly cycles and prevent infection or health problems.

In 2004, GOONJ started opening up this most taboo subject in India and the team started traveling to the Indian

villages to understand the reality..

Some harsh realities that GOONJ found..

In the absence of a clean cloth, poor women use the dirtiest rags during their

monthly cycles, sometimes even nothing. Living with meagre resources, a clean

cloth is the last priority on the minds of most village women.

In some parts of Rajasthan, women use sand or rags during menses. In

Uttarakhand, Bihar and many other places women use ash as an absorbent.

In Sunderbans (West Bengal), women use the same cloth for almost a year or

two.

Many women develop infections and have to get their uterus removed.

There are cases like that of a woman using an old piece of blouse which had a

hook and then she died of tetanus

The lack of appropriate and adequate sanitation facilities prevents

adolescent girls from attending school, particularly when they are menstruating.

Addressing a woman’s basic need Turning old cotton cloth into clean cloth sanitary napkins Campaigning among urban masses especially women, to raise awareness

and material for cloth napkins. Initiating discussion among women in the villages & slums of India, on the

health and hygiene aspects of this taboo issue Giving training to various NGOs to start the production of cloth sanitary

napkins at a local level and helping them understand the gravity of this subject Bring attention of larger world to the issue..

The basic idea

Measuring cloth Washing Drying Ironing to make it moisture free

Folding The final product Packing of napkins

The napkin making process

Creating awareness on

the subject through village

level meetings & discussions. Exhibition and

leaflets highlight the connect with a women’s health.

Getting women to talk…

Women discussing and sharing

A briefing among village women

Women get to experience first hand a clean cloth napkin

Getting a GOONJ napkin

GOONJ’s Sanitary Napkin programme is reaching slums and far-flung villages of India

In the field

Farzana was in tears when she received a pack of sanitary napkins, panties & general clothing from GOONJ :

“We hardly have food to satisfy our meal; Clothing is almost a last priority for us. But the effort made by GOONJ & Astitva has really given us a new life.”

(Astitva, is a women’s group based in Uttar Pradesh and an active partner of GOONJ.)

The impact

We have four concerns with the Indian Government’s recent scheme to provide napkins in 150 districts of India at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore (US$ 450 million) yearly.

SustainabilityAt a cost of Rs 2000 crores per year, considering the inflation and the expected expansion of the project, the cost is certain to go up. Will adequate funds be channeled for this project in the future also?

ImplementationSuch large scale schemes by the Government has seen massive corruption and mis-management before. Will any special measures be put in place?

EnvironmentThere is no mention of not using plastic in the manufacture of napkins, this raises issues of disposal as well as environment degradation.

EducationThe focus is only on affordability and there is no focus on education or awareness, while the study has showed that 70% of women would like to have more information on the subject.

Our Concerns

Winner of several international awards;• World Bank’s Development Marketplace award • Changemaker’s Innovation award • Lien i3 challenge award

More than a million napkins distributed in the last two years alone.

1,50,000 to 2,00,000 napkins produced every month.

42 different grassroots organizations across 10 states of India working with GOONJ on this issue.

Over 150 meetings held in villages across India, talking to village women about the taboos and related health and hygiene issues. 

Over 70 Display cum exhibition held in the villages, highlighting good practices, health issues, taboos and superstitions around this issue.

More than 200 collection camps held in various metros

13 Grassroots organizations (personnel) and village women trained in replicating the napkin production as an employment generation activity.

Major Highlights of ‘Not Just A Piece of Cloth’ initiative

Village level meetings bring out the highly taboo subject in the open. Women talk about a subject they don’t even discuss openly with other women.

Napkins produced without any machines or technological inputs. Entirely manual operations employing women from nearby slums in the entire process.

Working across 10 states

Idea right from production to the last part- easily replicable in any part of developing world.

Give us your old cotton cloth like bed sheets, curtains, T-shirts, sarees,

dupattas, towels etc.

Motivate exporters, hotels, hospitals & hostels in your network, to contribute

their discarded cotton fabric.

Tell us about women forums and meetings where we can talk about this issue

to build more sensitivity about this taboo subject

And do support the initiative financially. It’s not a popular subject, and does

not come in the list of many funding agencies but it’s an important issue.

Everyone – you the members of the public, institutions, agencies, corporates all

are needed to help this initiative to scale up !!

It’s ultimately every woman’s very basic need.

Your simple contribution..

Address: J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi- 76Tel : 011- 41401216, 26972351

Email: mail@goonj.orgFor further info or to find out how you can help

visitwww.goonj.org

Spread the GOONJ..