Chhaupadi

Awareness raising through education is taking place among young girls to modify or eliminate the practice of chaupadi in Nepal.

Chhaupadi (Nepali: छाउपडी  Listen ) is a social tradition associated with the menstrual taboo in the western part of Nepal. The tradition prohibits Hindu women and girls from participating in normal family activities while menstruating, as they are considered "impure".

The women are kept out of the house and have to live in a cattle shed or a makeshift hut. This period of time lasts between ten and eleven days when an adolescent girl has her first period; thereafter, the duration is between four and seven days each month. Childbirth also results in a ten to eleven-day confinement.[1] During this time, women are forbidden to touch men or even to enter the courtyard of their own homes. They are barred from consuming milk, yogurt, butter, meat, and other nutritious foods, for fear they will forever mar those goods. The women must survive on a diet of dry foods, salt, and rice. They cannot use warm blankets and are allowed only a small rug; most commonly, this is made of jute (also known as burlap). They are also restricted from going to school or performing daily functions like taking a bath.

Origin

The practice of chhaupadi originates from the superstition that menstruation causes women to be temporarily impure, based on the myth that Indra created menstruation as a means to distribute a curse.[2][3] In this logic, it is believed that if a menstruating woman touches a tree, it will never again bear fruit; if she consumes milk, the cow will not give any more milk; if she reads a book, Saraswati, the goddess of education, will become angry; if she touches a man, he will be ill.

The practice persists in rural areas primarily in Western Nepal. It is also called ‘chhue’ or ‘bahirhunu’ in Dadeldhura, Baitadi and Darchula, as ‘chhaupadi’ in Achham, and as ‘chaukulla’ or ‘chaukudi’ in Bajhang district.[4]

Description

Menstruating women and girls are required to remain isolated from their family, and are forbidden from entering homes, kitchens, schools, and temples. During this time, they sit in what is often a small outdoor shed, usually made from wood or stone, and are unable to cook, touch livestock, or use the same water sources as the rest of the community. In some locations, women may stay isolated from their family in a separate room attached to the house, such as a shed used for storing tools. There is often no furniture, and women sleep on the ground. They may not touch family members, and food and water is passed to them without touching. It is believed particularly dangerous for women to touch men during this time.[4][5][6]

Upon menarche, adolescent girls are required to spend up to fourteen days in the shed; afterwards, she must spend the duration of each menstrual period in the shed. Additionally, women who have just given birth must stay in the shed with their child for up to two weeks.[7]

Despite the social isolation of chhaupadi, women must still work, often fieldwork, during menstruation.[6]

Health and Safety Risks

Women are exposed to multiple health and safety risks while practising chhaupadi.

Huts are often poorly constructed, lacking heat or ventilation, leaving women essentially outside to the elements and extreme temperatures during different times of year. Women are at risk of developing illnesses such as pneumonia or diarrhea while practising, as well as being open to attack by snakes and other animals. Risk of asphyxiation is often high if the woman starts a fire in the hut, in an attempt to keep warm during the winter. Women have been raped while practising chhaupadi.[8][9]

While exact numbers are not available, women and girls die annually while performing the practice, including two young women in late 2016 who died from smoke inhalation and "carbon monoxide poisoning" from fires.[10][11][12]

Legislation

Chhaupadi was outlawed by the Supreme Court of Nepal in 2005, but the tradition has been slow to change.[13] In 2017, Nepal passed a law punishing people who force women into exile during menstruating with up to three months in jail or a fine of 3,000 Nepalese rupees.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ghimire, Laxmi (May 2005). "Unclean & Unseen" (PDF). Student BMJ. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  2. ↑ Jaishankar, K. (2013). Second International Conference of the South Asian Society of Criminology and Victimology (SASCV). Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India: South Asian Society of Criminology and Victimology. p. 142. ISBN 9788190668750.
  3. ↑ Gupta, Gargi (Dec 6, 2015). "Menstruation and the religious taboos for women". dna. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  4. 1 2 United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office (April 1, 2011). "FIELD BULLETIN: Chaupadi In The Far-West" (PDF). United Nations Office of Human Rights. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  5. ↑ Aldama, Zigor (February 23, 2018). "Period shaming in Nepal: new law may finally end practice of banishing menstruating women". South China Morning Post. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Where a Taboo Is Leading to the Deaths of Young Girls". Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  7. ↑ "Assessment Study on Chhaupadi in Nepal: Towards a Harm Reduction Strategy" (PDF). Nepal Health Sector Programme. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  8. ↑ Shanti Kadariya, Arja R Aro (June 2015). "Chhaupadi practice in Nepal – analysis of ethical aspects". Medicolegal and Bioethics. 53: 53–58. doi:10.2147/MB.S83825 – via ResearchGate.
  9. ↑ "The Risky Lives of Women Sent Into Exile—For Menstruating", National Geographic, March 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ McNamara, Brittney. "A 15-Year-Old Girl Died When She Was Banished to a Hut for Menstruating". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  11. ↑ Evelyn Nieves, "In Nepal, Monthly Exile for Women", The New York Times "Lens", Jan. 5, 2017.
  12. ↑ "15-Year-Old Girl Found Dead In A Menstrual Hut In Nepal", NPR, Dec. 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Nepal: Emerging from menstrual quarantine". Integrated Regional Information Networks. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  14. ↑ By roshan sedhai, associated press (2012-09-20). "Nepal strengthens laws against dowry, menstrual exile - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
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