Editorial»
It ain’t right
FEB 03 -
A glaring contradiction in Nepali society was brought to the fore on Tuesday when Gagan Singh B.K. spoke about the ostracising of his family by his neighbours for allowing his wife into the house during her periods. B.K.’s family was being punished for violating the ancient Hindu tradition of Chhaupadi, whereby girls and women are kept in isolation during their menstruation as they are considered impure and untouchable. What was remarkable was that B.K. was speaking at a function organised in Chhatiwan, the same Village Development Committee his family lives in, to honour the women crusading against Chhaupadi!
Fearing they will sully the holy ambience of the house, women and girls of the Mid and Far West Nepal are still forced to spend their menstruation periods in makeshift shelters, most often cowsheds, built at some distance from the house. But while it is easy to chastise the people of the Mid and Far West for continuing with the cruel tradition, it is also worth noting that the practice of curtailing women’s movement in the house during their menstruation cycle is by no means limited to these areas. Even in cities like Kathmandu, well-educated mothers can be heard hounding their daughters for going near the puja room or touching eating utensils during their menstruation.
Encouragingly, even in the far-flung Doti district of the Far West, there are people like B.K. willing to risk social ostracism for shunning the age-old superstitions that have no scientific — or religious — basis. But the biggest reason to abandon Chhaupadi (and other less brutal but no less discriminative gender practices) is that it violates the basic human rights of women, sometimes even their right to stay alive. Only a month ago, a 40-year-old woman who had been confined to a small shed out of the main house during her menstrual cycle froze to death in Accham district, also in the Far West.
What makes the isolation even more harrowing for women is that during periods women undergo huge hormonal imbalances, which, even if they belong to loving and understanding families, can be tough to handle. Women, for instance, are at a heightened risk of mood swings and depression during periods. The copious amount of lost blood also makes them physically weak. In these difficult times, women should be supported, not shunned.
One good thing that has emerged form the Doti episode is that while some of their neighbours were dead set against the B.K.s, there were many who supported the family all the way, thereby indicating that old attitudes are beginning to change even in the hinterlands. On the other hand, it also serves as a reminder of how much yet remains to be done to level the playing field between men and women in the country.
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