Shed your inhibition about taboos and myths of menstrual hygiene: Manipuri activist Urmila Chanam’s crusade on breaking the silence as a woman

New Delhi July 19:‘Break the silence, celebrate the red droplets’ is the slogan  that reverberated across villages of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh (UP), in June this year.Meet Urmila Chanam, 36 year old , Bengaluru-based health activist-cum-journalist who orchestrated this slogan which is part of her hugely successful campaign on menstruation by the organization she founded -Breaking the Silence.

Chanam, through  her campaign , is educating women on the need for such hygiene, at the same time teaching them about cultural practices relating to it can prove deprecating and isolating for them.

Working with ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist), health professionals and women Self Help Groups (SHGs),Chanam re-educates and creates awareness among girls  and women on issues of menstrual hygiene, use of sanitary napkins and toilets to empower themselves.

Urmila Chanam was born in Manipur but started her career from Shillong in Meghalaya. Her father being an army officer who gave her ample opportunities to travel around the country which contributed a lot towards what she took up later in life.

Chanam, who herself, comes from a life of domestic violence by her abusive husband recalls her reluctance and inhibition to speak about the matter ever to her parents or relatives.It is this personal experience and  social stigma that women brush under the carpet in many issues that prompted her to start -‘Breaking the Silence.’

Having studied Social Science and being a Masters in Anthropology with a very good academic background ,Chanam has always been interested in community and welfare works.Besides having done a journalism course , she has always been active about her first love,writing  and she has also been a contributor to various newspapers in Manipur.

Working for women empowerment and hygiene campaigns have already won her accolades for her contributions, like the UNFPA National Laadli Award in 2015 for the Best Social Media Campaign in India and Voices of Our Future (VOF) global award by World Pulse.

She utters an account of the efforts,”I travel to remote villages in different parts of India and overseas to educate girls and women in schools, academic institutions and villages on the biology of menstruation, its hygienic management and safe and environment friendly disposal of used sanitary material.”

She further goes on to say “My effort is to dispel the myths and taboos around menstruation and have open conversations with girls and women on their bodies, sexuality and menstruation with an aim to empower them with correct information “.

She envisions a time when women will be able to speak up and seek as well as provide help without any hesitation.

She has been actively campaigning in various parts of India including Maharashtra,  Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh ,Manipur and Kashmir.

She says ,” Women should not be considered as untouchables when they are on their  periods”.
In fact ,breaking myths and taboos around menstruation has been Chanam’s mission for the last five years.

Chanam encourages men should come on board and partner with women to work against the stigma attached to menstruation.”  she says, while adding that women presume that men may not support them or might be uninterested on this issue, which is completely false.

These are some of the visions of  Chanam for woman which include the number of women who use sanitary pads should increase. In India, every year 72,000 women die of cervical cancer due to poor menstrual hygiene.

She wants see a decline in the rate of girls dropping out after they start menstruating. 23 per cent of girls in India are leaving school as after they have their periods, the embarrassment they suffer due to poor sanitary conditions in schools.
Chanam also wants  the government to include a chapter on ‘Menstrual Hygiene Education’ in the school curriculum which should be taught diligently  to both the genders.

She thanks the social media,internet and technology that has made it possible for her to get support and help in her campaigns and she wants to change the sorry state of women across the country and the world.