MEGASTAR AKSHAY KUMAR & NATIONAL CHANGE-MAKERS FORGE A ‘CHAIN OF NIINE’ TO SHACKLE PERIOD TABOO AT THE NIINE MENSTRUAL AWARENESS CONCLAVE
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Megastar Akshay Kumar turns rock
star as he sings about Menstrual Hygiene Awareness and honours Pad
Heroes from across India for their work.
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Attendees pledge their support for the Chain
of Niine and to be a part of the Pad Man Army to break the period taboo.
To mark World Menstrual Hygiene Day,
megastar Akshay Kumar and a host of activists, politicians, advocates
and national change-makers came together to launch the Niine Movement,
an ambitious five-year plan aimed at tackling the taboos surrounding
menstruation. With the announcement of the Chain of Niine at the
inaugural Niine Menstrual Hygiene Awareness
Conclave in New Delhi,
India, the nation-wide movement aims to raise awareness on the importance
of menstrual hygiene across the country.
The Menstrual Awareness Conclave saw
renowned film personalities, academics, policymakers, government officials,
activists, medical experts, business stalwarts, NGOs, and
thought-leaders, convene to discuss the impact that stigma and taboos
have had on menstruation, and which have held girls and women back for
centuries from achieving their potential and living a life of respect and
dignity. Supported by Television Partner and leading Hindi news channel
News18 India, and online partner Firstpost,
the Menstrual Awareness Conclave saw two keynote panels take place providing an
essential platform for collaboration, innovation and cooperation as panelists
discussed sustainable solutions for tackling menstrual issues across India.
Indian superstar Akshay Kumar, who’s most
recent award winning film Pad Man tackled the issue of menstrual taboo, recently
began his support of the Niine Movement with the launch of the nationwide campaign #18to82
to bridge the gap between the minority that are able to adopt hygienic
practices and the large majority who are not able to make an informed choice in
these matters.
As one of India’s most respected and reputed
social change and women’s empowerment advocates, Akshay Kumar took to the stage
to interact with the audience, sharing never before heard experiences of his
time filming Pad Man and explaining why he was so compelled to not only
star but produce a film on periods.
In one of the most memorable moments of the
conclave, he also performed a rock anthem about menstrual hygiene entitled
‘Let’s Talk About Periods’, which encapsulated the enclave’s strong message on
breaking the menstrual taboo and starting a discussion around.
As part of the Niine Movement’s commitment to
educate and raise awareness of menstruation across all genders and age groups,
Akshay Kumar also spotlighted the work of menstrual hygiene champions – Pad
Heroes - from across India. These Pad Heroes from a variety of backgrounds
shared their extraordinary efforts to improve menstrual hygiene awareness in
their local communities, and were presented with 5 Lacs by Akshay Kumar on
behalf of the Niine Movement to support their continuing work.
Speaking about his support of the
Menstrual Awareness Conclave, Akshay Kumar earlier said: “The Niine Menstrual
Awareness Conclave is a crucial assembly of minds, influencers and menstrual
awareness champions - convening under one roof with the common goal of tackling
the urgent issues, taboos and stigmas associated with menstrual health and
hygiene. We, as a collective society, can only implement change once we
initiate discussion, and the conclave on International Menstrual Hygiene Day is
a fitting platform for us to truly empower a nation of women. Together we can
ensure that every woman and girl has the right to manage her period safely and
with dignity.”
The Menstrual Awareness
Conclave also featured two high-level panels engaging prominent and expert
panellists. The
first panel was Chaired and Moderated by Poonam Muttreja, the
Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India (PFI), which
has been at the forefront of policy advocacy and research on gender,
population, health and development issues in India. With taboos
surrounding menstruation preventing women and girls from achieving empowerment,
respect and dignity for centuries, the first panel delved deep into the
socially constructed origin of the menstrual stigma and the physical impact
this can have on girls and women, in particular reproductive and urinary tract
infections. If neglected, these infections can have long term consequences
including increased vulnerability to other infections and in extreme cases can
leave women vulnerable to infertility.
Poonam Muttreja spoke to eminent
panellists focusing on the importance of menstrual hygiene management awareness
and practice and the work already being conducted on ground to tackle the
issues and address the barriers. Some of the panelists
included film actor and women’s rights activist Shabana Azmi,
Avinash Kumar, Director Programme and Policy, WaterAid India, an NGO which
aims to transform
the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people by improving access to
WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) services, Nishtha Satyam, Deputy
Representative, UN Women India MCO, Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament
(Lok Sabha) from New Delhi Constituency, BJP National Spokeswoman, Supreme
Court lawyer and socio-political activist and
Dr. Jaideep Malhotra, President of the Federation of Obstetric and
Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI).
Voicing her support to the Niine Movement, and
calling for a nationwide action, Shabana Azmi said: “In a country
where 70% women suffer reproductive illness due to unhygienic methods of
handling menstruation, not only free-pads distribution but, a series of efforts
taken on the individual and community level can only help uprooting the cause.
It requires a change in mind-set, breaking of taboos surrounding menstruation
talks and creating platforms for more open conversations through workshops and
awareness programmes. There is also a need to offer encouragement to social
entrepreneurs working towards menstruation issues.”
Agreeing with Shabana Azmi, Meenakshi
Lekhi, Member of Parliament also emphasised the
need to approach the societal issue with a scientific lens, and said: “Issues
around menstruation are not really related to patriarchy but deals with a
mindset and that needs to be changed in a scientific way. We should rather
focus on usages of organic and biodegradable pads than simply using a random pad
made of plastic which eventually will harm our eco-system and food chain.
Scientific and eco-friendly methods of making pads should be encouraged.”
According to UNESCO, 20% of
girls drop out of school upon reaching puberty the second, most common cause of
absenteeism after household work. The second panel will focus on the safety and
security of girls after they reach puberty in the school environment, an
important concern for girls and their families that needs to be addressed in
building a healthy ecosystem in which girls and women feel empowered to make
healthy choices with respect to menstruation.
Chaired and Moderated by
activist and the Regional Coordinator, India of the Royal Commonwealth
Society, Shivani Wazir Pasrich, the panel featured educationists and
menstrual hygiene management experts to discuss the challenges within the
education sector, which included the need for separate toilets for boys and
girls with access to clean water, and the importance of advocating for better
menstrual health practices at schools. The panelists included Dr Bindu Rana,
CEO and Founder of Millennium Education Management, the largest education
company in India, veteran educationist Lata Vaidyanathan, Director,
TERI Prakriti School, woman empowerment champion Raseel
Gujral and Dr. Jennifer Butler, Deputy Regional Director, United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Asia Pacific and OIC UNFPA India and
Bhutan. UNFPA has been assisting the Government of India in addressing
adolescent health concerns, improving access to life skills education and
health services, strengthening delivery of SRH services and advancing
reproductive health and rights and preventing gender discrimination and harmful
practices.
The Niine Movement and Niine
Menstrual Awareness Conclave were conceived by social
entrepreneur Amar Tulsiyan. Speaking about the launch, founder Amar
Tulsiyan said: “Niine signifies the Nine months of beautiful journey towards
motherhood which can only take off after periods. Menstruation is a divine boon
of nature which should be celebrated and not be ashamed of. This is where the
core philosophy of the campaign rests upon. “
With regards to the taboo surrounding
menstruation, he added: “Menstrual hygiene awareness is an issue that is
severely under-represented in this country, as demonstrated by the amount of
women who still do not use proper menstrual hygiene products to manage their
periods. Even amongst the 18%, they lack awareness of the importance of using
clean sanitary napkins and not to reuse the product, which is why as part of
our theory of change, we need to enrol existing menstrual
hygiene product users and those who don’t in a supportive, taboo free
environment to create an open forum for discussion and deliberation. With Niine’s Menstrual
Awareness Conclave, I am hopeful that we can inspire and motivate everyone to
support the cause as I believe that we can all make a difference and break the
taboo around menstruation by talking, educating and collaborating. That’s what
the Niine Movement is all about. ”
The Niine Movement is supported by Jagran
Pehal and Radio City.
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