Welcome to the archives of News Deeply’s Women & Girls Hub. While we paused regular publication of the
site on January 22, 2018, and transitioned our coverage to
Women’s Advancement Deeply, we are happy to
serve as an ongoing public resource on the Arctic. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that
was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next.
If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at
[email protected].
Sincerely,
Team Deeply
Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of News Deeply’s Women & Girls Hub. While we paused regular publication of the
site on January 22, 2018, and transitioned our coverage to Women’s Advancement Deeply, we are happy to
serve as an ongoing public resource on the Arctic. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that
was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next.
If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at
[email protected].
In Nepal, the stigma surrounding the “time of the month” often means girls are kept apart from their families. In this photo essay, seven girls from a rural district document their lives during their periods.
These teenage girls in rural Nepal used cameras for the first time and photographed the restrictions they face during their period. Pictured, from left to right: Sushma Diyali, Bisheshta Bhandari, Bandana Khadka, Sabina Gautam, Rabina Budhathoki, Manisha Karki and Rita Baral. WaterAid/Mani Karmacharya
In parts of Nepal, menstruating women and girls are considered “impure” due to long-held cultural beliefs and taboos. In many families, girls are forbidden to sleep in their own room or home, enter the kitchen, eat with family, eat certain foods or even look in the mirror during that time of the month.
On top of this, girls often miss school during their period because they don’t have access to proper toilets. They also risk infections because of a lack of clean and safe places to bathe or wash sanitary pads away from everyone else.
The international nonprofit organization WaterAid gave cameras to seven teenage girls in Nepal’s rural Sindhuli district so they could photograph and share their experiences of exclusion during their periods. They exhibited the photos in the village to open up a discussion and dispel the myths about menstruation.
WaterAid works across Nepal to help women and girls access toilets, clean water and sanitary supplies.
Here are the girls’ photos and their very touching stories.
“This is my mother and sister. Here, my mother is feeding my sister with so much love. My mother loves me very much as well. However, during my menstruation cycle, I am kept separately and have to eat at a distance. When nobody touches me, I feel unloved. We need lots of love and support during our period, but when I am separated and treated like an untouchable, I feel no love from my mother and father, and I feel only hatred. I feel sad being treated that way.” (WaterAid/Bandana Khadka)
“This is place where I used to wash myself during my first period. My sister Shristi is washing her face in this picture. When I had my first menstruation, I stayed at another house, since we’re not allowed to stay in our own house during that time. Though I don’t have as many restrictions as my friends, I was still required to stay out of my own home. I think this is due to social pressure. We teenage girls are more comfortable with our own parents, and during menstruation we need extra care and support from them. But, when we have to stay out of our own home in another house for seven days, we may not feel comfortable. Adolescent girls should have the right to stay with their parents to feel safe and secure.” (WaterAid/Bisheshta Bhandari)
“This is my kitchen. When I clicked this picture, my mother had just finished cooking ‘sel-roti’ (traditional doughnut-like bread prepared from rice flour). I really love ‘sel-roti.’ But during our menstruation, we are not allowed inside the kitchen. We are not allowed to touch anything inside the kitchen, including cooking materials, food and utensils. I am not allowed to eat ‘sel-roti’ as well. On other days, when I am not on my period, I work and eat in the same kitchen. Eating separately during menstruation makes me sad. I feel cast away, as if I’m a stranger and not the part of the family.” (WaterAid/Manisha Karki)
“This is the set of utensils I use during my period. I’m not allowed to sit in my usual place on those days. When I’m not given the seat where I usually sit, it feels really bad. Everyone sits around and eats together, whereas I am separated. For four days, I’m not allowed to touch any other utensils other than the ones that are separated for me. I just eat and drink in them and make sure I do not use extra mugs and plates. After I’m done eating, I have to wash this and keep it separately from other utensils. I feel really bad during those four days.” (WaterAid/Rabina Budhathoki)
“The photo is of my brother’s marriage in the village. During my period, I can’t attend such social gatherings. Even if we go, we have to stay separate. Though I like to attend marriage ceremonies, I don’t like to go during my period due to this social superstition.” (WaterAid/Sabina Gautam)
“This is a picture of the mirror and comb I use at my house. In our society, when girls experience their first menstruation, we are not allowed to look into mirrors or comb our hair. I think that is a wrong belief that we have in our society. My family does not follow this practice. But many of my friends’ families are really strict, so they aren’t allowed to look at themselves in the mirror and comb their hair. If my friends could grow up in an environment where there are no limitations during menstruation and receive more support from their families, they could feel free and have more opportunities.” (WaterAid/Sushma Diyali)
“This is the small irrigation canal in my village. During my first menstruation, I used to come here to take a bath. I had to come to this place early in the morning, even before sunrise. People believe I should not be seen by or see any males during my first period. Since it was dark early in the morning, I used to get scared and felt insecure. I have a sister, but I will never let her go alone to this place.” (WaterAid/Rita Baral)
Using their photo project, the girls challenged the norms surrounding menstrual taboos in their rural community. They hope their stories will begin to change people’s minds.
“When I had my first period, my mother restricted [me] from crossing the river. She told me I’d get demons inside me,” said 15-year-old Bandana Khadka. “I think we should change these kinds of beliefs.”
WaterAid hopes this project will encourage communities throughout Nepal to ensure safe access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
From left to right, Sabina Gautam, Rabina Budhathoki, Rita Baral and Bisheshta Bhandari used a camera for the first time during a workshop organized by the international charity WaterAid. (WaterAid/Mani Karmacharya)
“The girls of Sindhuli, Nepal, remind us through their photos and personal stories that women will only play a full role in society when the silence and stigma around periods have been laid to rest,” said Sarina Prabasi, who leads WaterAid America.
Our mission is to empower stakeholders and the wider public with high quality information, insights, and analysis on critical global issues. To help achieve this, we encourage you to republish the text of any article that contains a Republish button on your own news outlet.
By copying the HTML below, you agree to adhere to our republishing guidelines.
By copying the HTML below, you agree to adhere to our republishing guidelines. Click to expand
In republishing any of our articles:
Ensure that you include a line of our HTML tracking code on every article you republish. This is a lightweight, efficient way for us to see the number of page views of each specific article published on our partners’ websites. This does not affect page layout, nor does it provide any information about your users, other web pages on your site, or any further data. By copying and pasting the HTML code in the box below, the tracking code is automatically included.
If, for any reason, you do not copy the code prepared for you, you must paste this code snippet into the end of the article in your CMS:
Edit our stories only to reflect references to time (e.g. "today" to "yesterday"), location (e.g. "New York" to "here") or editorial style; do not edit the wording of our articles.
Include all the links within the story.
Credit our authors and partner institutions — ideally in the byline. We prefer “Author Name, Institution”
Note at the top and/or bottom of the story that it originally appeared on Women and Girls. This note should include a direct link to the original article and a sentence that offers the reader the opportunity to join the Women and Girls’s mailing list. Our recommended example is:
This should read : “This article originally appeared on Women and Girls. You can find the original here. For important news about gender issues in the developing world, you can sign up to the Women and Girls email list.”
Do not republish a photo without our written permission. Some sources don't allow their images to be republished without permission.
Do not translate a story into another language without our written permission.
We often republish pieces from our partners. If you want to republish a partner’s story, you must credit the original partner and include a “via News Deeply” link.
Note that News Deeply considers the publication date to be the date marked on the story, and is not responsible for any content that you choose to repost.
After republication on the partner website, if you make an accompanying post on social media referencing the republished article, you must include the relevant Deeply social media handle in such post. For example, (i) for Twitter posts this means adding the appropriate @Deeply tag such as @SyriaDeeply, @WaterDeeply, or @WomensGirlsHub and (ii) for Facebook this means tagging the appropriate Deeply page in your Facebook post.
News Deeply material may not to be provided, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to third parties or affiliates for redistribution through those entities, unless you have received prior written approval from News Deeply.
You may not automatically or systematically republish any material from our sites; all stories must be chosen individually for republishing.
You may not sell our content or republish it for commercial purposes without our prior written consent.
We reserve the right to request that any partner ceases republication of our content, including but not limited to if the guidelines listed above not being followed.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact [email protected]
Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.
Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus.