#YESIBLEED is a social campaign which is not only creating so much awareness about mensuration but also breaking the silly myths around the world like you can worship here, you cannot worship there, Periods are not allowed here, You are impure, You are forced into believing that all these statements are mandatory for your own good, You are enforced into submission in the name of religious belief etc.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi is going to launch a menstrual hygiene campaign on February 20.The campaign called “#Yes I Bleed” will be initiated formally across all multi-media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.
We are overwhelmed that many Social Media Websites like ANI, ScoopWhoop, DNA, Business Standard and many more websites are promoting this Social campaign.
Subodh Gupta, a patron of SheWings and Director of Okaya Power Company, said, “Menstruation is still a taboo subject in our country and a topic that even women are uncomfortable discussing in public. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a natural physiological process. In order to dispel myths surrounding menstruation and to promote menstrual hygiene awareness, the #YesIBleed campaign was conceptualized. This campaign is going to be launched formally on 20th February by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi in the national capital.”
Asked why he had to work and contribute in the area of menstrual health, Gupta said, “In India’s rural areas, not only is their ignorance about menstrual hygiene, but unaffordability to buy sanitary pads is a major hindrance. The reason I decided to work in this sector was to create a truly holistic approach to menstruation through an integration of ethical business practices, and culturally sensitive, life-affirming education about the menstrual experience. I saw an extraordinary opportunity to advance social transformation and ecological-awareness through every step of our work.”
He further revealed that in India, only 12 percent of the country’s 355 million menstruating women can afford to avail sanitary protection.
According to a Nielsen Survey, 23 percent of adolescent Indian girls in the age group of 12-18 drop out of school once they reach puberty because of inadequate menstrual protection and a whopping 88 percent who do not have access to sanitary pads, use unsanitised cloth, husk sand, tree leaves and even ash’ These can cause severe reproductive health problems and infections, and can also lead to cervical cancer.
The menstrual hygiene awareness #YesIBleed campaign is being launched almost a fortnight after the release of the popular Akshay Kumar-Radhika Apte-Sonam Kapoor starrer “Padman”, which has attempted to ingrain the issue of menstrual hygiene in the psyche of the common man.
The film has received praise from actors and directors, and even from Pakistani-born Nobel Laureate Malala Yusafzai.Padman is based on the story of Arunachalam Muruganatham, who, on realizing how women are affected during their menses, sets out to create a sanitary pad machine and to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to the women of rural India.
Twinkle Khanna, the producer of the film, said “PadMan is not just a film, it’s a movement. I hope now woman will not be held back or embarrassed by their biology.”