Tag: menstrual hygiene

  • 14-year-old girl commits suicide after stressing about first period

    14-year-old girl commits suicide after stressing about first period

    A 14-year-old girl in Mumbai committed suicide as she was stressed about the pain due to her first period, according to Indian news platform India Today.
    The girl had no knowledge about the menstrual cycle due to which she was forced to take the extreme step, says the police report.

    The unfortunate incident took place late on March 26. The teenager informed her family members about her first period and said she was experiencing extreme pain.

    The young girl became restless as she could not bear the pain due to her period and subsequently hung herself in the room. The victim’s family took her to a nearby hospital, but she was declared dead upon her arrival.

    A post-mortem of the body was conducted and no foul play was found, according to media reports.

    The incident has raised concerns over the lack of awareness and information regarding the menstrual cycle especially among children.

    In a survey by BeBadass.in, 60 percent of girls do not have prior knowledge about their menstrual cycle while 56 percent in India consider it a taboo. A shocking 38 percent believe the first occurrence to be an injury or a disease.

    This is not about India alone as menstrual hygiene and seeking knowledge about it is seen as a taboo across South Asia. Sad incidents like these stress the need to have proper counselling with teenagers on menstruation and how to deal with it.

  • Gaza women taking period-delaying pills amidst lack of privacy, water: Al Jazeera exclusive

    Gaza women taking period-delaying pills amidst lack of privacy, water: Al Jazeera exclusive

    Linah Alsaafin and Ruwaida Amer from Al Jazeera have reported from Gaza on Palestinian women who have been struggling to cope with menses at a time when medical supplies have been cut and the region is under heavy military attacks by Israel.

    Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, Gazans have been internally displaced, living in poor conditions among a large number of people with no privacy, and no access to water or menstrual hygiene products like sanitary napkins and/or tampons. To counter this major problem, women are resorting to norethisterone tablets that are usually prescribed in times of severe menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and painful periods.

    While these pills have side effects like irregular vaginal bleeding, nausea, changes to the menstrual cycle, dizziness and mood swings, Palestinian women do not have any choice for now.

    Al Jazeera spoke to 41-year-old Salma who fled her hometown, Tel al-Hawa, and is now at a relative’s place in Deir el-Balah refugee camp. She is in a “constant state of fear, discomfort and depression, which has taken a toll on her menstrual cycle”.

    “I am experiencing the most difficult days of my life during this war,” Salma says. “I got my period twice this month so far – which is very irregular for me – and suffered heavy bleeding.”

    Nevin Adnan, a psychologist and social worker based in Gaza City, explained to Al Jazeera that while normally, women may experience psychological and physical symptoms before and during periods (changes in mood and lower abdominal, back pain); these symptoms, however, can worsen under stress.

    “Displacement causes extreme stress and that affects the woman’s body and her hormones,” she said.

    “There can also be an increase of the physical symptoms associated with menstruation, such as abdominal and back pain, constipation and bloating,” she said, adding that they may also experience insomnia, constant nervousness and extreme tension.

    This is why, Adnan asserts, more women are taking period-delaying pills “to avoid embarrassment and shame due to the lack of hygiene, privacy, and available health products”.

    “In war, we are forced to do everything we can,” says Salma.

    “There is never a choice.”

    Read full story: No privacy, no water: Gaza women use period-delaying pills amid war