Differently-Abled Girls In India Have Their Own ‘Padman’
We live in a society where not only men, but also women, don’t concede to talking openly about periods with maturity. In such a scenario, one man is on the path to make a change. Hailing from a village in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, Vinay Kumar, who used to be a construction labourer in Noida after completing class 12, is now a Gandhi Fellow. His fiery spirit for social good has enabled him to lead a campaign for guiding girls and women with intellectual disabilities about menstruation.
According to this report by The Better India Vinay’s passion for social work brought him to Mumbai, at Ummeed Foundation in Mumbra that works towards educating the underprivileged disabled. It was there where he learnt the several serious issues faced by the differently abled girls during their periods. It shocked him to know that a parent there was considering having her daughter’s uterus medically removed, to avoid the sanitation problems that would arise when the girl was on her period and also to avoid a possible pregnancy if the girl was sexually abused.
After resolving to educate these girls and their parents about menstrual hygiene, Vinay first acquainted himself with the issues that these girls faced, such as irregular periods, and dependence on mothers for managing menses. He got in touch with co-Gandhi Fellow Shuma Banik who was working against menstruation taboos in Surat, with her campaign Happy Periods.
Through his project, Vinay aims to convey that the natural and monthly phenomenon of periods is common for abled and disabled girls alike. However the latter need special guidance and education about their menstrual cycle. Vinay’s initiative not only attends to the gargantuan task of educating disabled girls about menstrual hygiene and management, but also aims to remove taboos about the involvement and role therein of the opposite sex when it comes to women’s menstrual hygiene.
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