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Chaupadi:Pushing Women Into Isolation

 

“I wonder who started this practice of Chaupadi and the practice of treating menstruating women as untouchables. A woman’s life here is meaningless. I sometimes feel people don’t even acknowledge our existence.”
Shobha Kalel is 22 years old. She, like most Hindu women in her part of western Nepal, stays in a shed during the first five days of her menstrual cycle. Shobha had her first periods at the age of 13. She was made to stay in a shed away from her house that had no doors or ventilation. She could not even get fresh air. She was not allowed near the house, and was not allowed to drink milk or any dairy products.
 
As a child, Shobha’s mother told her that her father would start shivering and be possessed by gods if she touched him or even sprinkled water at him during her periods. Those five days were a period of turmoil and terror. One could be bitten by a snake, eaten by wild animals or even raped while staying in those sheds. The hygiene was poor. She was not allowed to bathe for 4 days after her periods or comb her hair.
 
She lived in fear during her periods until she was 17, when her father rented a room in his house to a female health worker supported by CARE. Shobha shared the room with her, and through her, Shobha realized that periods were just a natural cycle in every woman’s life.
 
Changing norms in Doti is not easy, especially cultural and religious ones like this. The health worker supported by CARE also had to live outside the house during her periods, otherwise, she would not get a room anywhere in the village. However, instead of living in the sheds, both of them sought shelter at the health post which was safer and cleaner. Through her roommate, Shobha also learnt about hygiene, as before she had been unaware of even wearing underwear during her periods. Shobha now uses soft cloths during her periods as pads. She no longer walks around the village in stained clothes. Discrimination still exists, but the extent is gradually decreasing.
 
Of all the cultural practices that oppress Nepali women, none is as degrading as chaupadi. Women live in small huts made of mud, straw and wood which are barely two feet high and two feet wide. Sometimes, a common shed is built where all the women in the village stay. Women spend a total of about eight years of their life in such sheds. Medical doctors have often cited the practice of chaupadi as one of the reasons for increased cases of uterus prolepses in these parts of Nepal.
 
The Supreme Court of Government of Nepal has declared this practice unlawful but enforcing the law is challenging. CARE Nepal and several other national and international organizations are working to influence implementation of the law and change behaviours.