Menstrual Hygiene Day: What is it really about?

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The 28th day of May is the Menstrual Hygiene Day since 2014. This day has its significance. A woman’s menstrual cycle is on average 28 days and she bleeds for five days. Hence the commemoration of the 28th day of the fifth month. This year marks the 10th celebration of MH Day. The theme of this year is an inclusive one, ‘Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld.

According to RELX, SDG Resource Center, the day ‘is dedicated to breaking taboos and raising awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene management. The Hindustan Times reports that MH Day,’ creates awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene, reinstates the significance of access of menstrual products to all and break stigmas associated with menstruation’.

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What Menstrual Hygiene is raising awareness about

1. Period Hygiene

Period hygiene is very crucial in the period business. At this stage, a woman is susceptible to germs entering through her vagina. It is not about putting on tampons or sanitary pads, it is about being clean with them. Changing your tampons, menstrual cups, or tampons every 6-8 hours is important. This helps prevent yeast infections and rashes. Ensure you also take clean baths at least twice daily during your period.

2. Period enlightenment to tackle misconceptions

There are so many taboos surrounding menstruation among young women. Some girls lack the right information about their menstruation. There is a misconception that sex helps period pain and many girls have fallen to unprotected sex in the bid to eliminate the pain.

There are also cases of girls who do not know how to calculate their menstrual cycle- calculate their safe period, ovulation date, or next period date. The MH Day is aimed towards ensuring that girls and women are properly enlightened about their menstrual health.

3. Period Poverty

A lot of women face period poverty, being unable to afford period care products. Period poverty makes reproductive responsibility more of a burden than a blessing. MH Day seeks to raise awareness about period poverty. Through that, there are possibilities of getting donations for people who fall into the category of period poverty. Activists also strive towards the subsidy of sanitary products amidst the economic turbulence.

4. Building a Period-Friendly World

Like the theme of this year, MH Day strives for a world where a girl will not feel guilty for menstruating. A Period- Period-friendly world is one where the world recognizes the biological implications of menstruation. The implementation of menstrual leave is one of the core fronts of a Period-friendly world.

There are different ways you can commemorate the MH Day. By doing this, you are raising awareness for menstrual hygiene. You can go online and download toolkits for the commemoration, You can just simply use the hashtags for the commemoration- #MH Day,#PeriodFriendlyWorld and so many others.