PubMed 2021: A harmful religio-cultural practice (Chhaupadi) during menstruation among adolescent girls in Nepal: Prevalence and policies for eradication Temporary segregation isn't the main...
The current survey revealed that most adolescent girls (84%) practised Chhaupadi in their most recent menstruation. The Chhaupadi practice was high if the girls were aged 15–17 years, born to an illiterate mother, and belonged to a nuclear family.
Temporary segregation isn't the main problem here, it's that the living conditions of the segregation housing is completely inadequate. If these men are so offended by natural biological functions that gave them life, they should go live in unheated mud huts with venomous snakes and leave the young women in the comfort of their own home.
most women and girls in western hills (Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces) are banished outside their homes to a makeshift hut or cowshed during their menstrual period [4]. Those small huts made...
most women and girls in western hills (Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces) are banished outside their homes to a makeshift hut or cowshed during their menstrual period [4]. Those small huts made up of mud and stones without windows and locks are called Chhaupadi huts, and this tradition is called Chhaupadi [5].
Chhaupadi is a centuries-old harmful practice guided by religio-cultural beliefs in western Nepal [2, 4]. The word Chhaupadi is derived from a local Raute dialect in the far-west where "Chhau" means untouchable or unclean, and "Padi" means being or becoming [6–8]. Thus, Chhaupadi refers to a state of being untouchable/unclean. There are several sociocultural taboos during the menstruation period in the western hills of Nepal [1, 7]. For instance, people believe women are impure, untouchable, and unclean during routine menstrual periods. Those societal beliefs limit women/girls involvement in daily activities, including restrictions in eating (milk and dairy products), touching (men, water sources, livestock, plants, and kitchen items) and visiting public places (water sources, temple, prayer room and cultural ceremonies) [5, 9]. Moreover, women and girls are forced to isolate themselves and sleep inside the menstrual hut or in the cattle sheds where health hygiene is largely compromised. However, the Chhaupadi practice is not limited to menstruation and is common during postpartum [10].
Women and girls face physical and mental hardship while residing in Chhaupadi huts during mensuration [7–9]. In the past, several Chhaupadi related incidents have been reported from western hills of Nepal, such as sexual abuse, rape, attack from wild animals, snake or scorpion bites, and illness. All of these were related to poor safety and unhygienic conditions [4, 11–13]. In addition, poor hygiene and sanitation practices in Chhaupadi are compounded by the unavailability of and poor access to water and sanitation facilities, lack of sanitary napkins, and healthy environmental conditions [4]. The poor state of menstrual hygiene results in adverse health outcomes such as reproductive and genitourinary tract infections, the risk of cervical cancer, anxiety and depression [14–16]. Furthermore, in many cases, Chhaupadi practices have resulted in menstruation-related shame, fear and humiliation, poor menstrual hygiene practices, and girls’ school absenteeism in Nepal [17–19] and other low and middle-income countries
That's some biblical bullshit right there. While I lean towards respecting others cultures and traditions, traditions like that need to be stamped out. And the way to do it is via education. When...
That's some biblical bullshit right there.
While I lean towards respecting others cultures and traditions, traditions like that need to be stamped out. And the way to do it is via education.
When there is no money or drive for that education, this is what happens.
Nonononono the biblical way is for the men to keep away from the women during their cycle and during the first forty days of childbirth, as a sort of break from sexual availability. This is...
Nonononono the biblical way is for the men to keep away from the women during their cycle and during the first forty days of childbirth, as a sort of break from sexual availability. This is something worse which hopefully originally stemmed from giving ladies privacy and devolved into shame and abuse.
What about Leviticus? You're taking about Lev 15 right? Does it cast her out of the house to where it's unheated and has venomous snakes? How many verses in this chapter is spent on talking about...
What about Leviticus? You're taking about Lev 15 right? Does it cast her out of the house to where it's unheated and has venomous snakes? How many verses in this chapter is spent on talking about discharges that would make a man be considered ceremonially unclean and how many on women?
That this several thousand year old law provide a way to purify from, and set a time limit on ceremonial uncleanliness, thousands of years before antibiotics and germ theory and known ways to avoid blood bourn infections: this is lightyears ahead of "women aren't even human" and "women are always unclean".
Searching for a non paywalled version of this story I found previous incidents. Apparently this is a known hazard. December 2019 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50691387 December 2016...
Searching for a non paywalled version of this story I found previous incidents. Apparently this is a known hazard.
A 16-year-old girl from Nepal has died as a result of the illegal practice of chhaupadi, where menstruating women are forced to stay in huts outside their homes.
Anita Chand, from Baitadi district, in the west of the country, bordering India, is understood to have died on Wednesday from a snake bite while she was sleeping. Her death is the first reported fatality from chhaupadi since 2019 and campaigners fear progress to eliminate the practice is being eroded.
PubMed 2021: A harmful religio-cultural practice (Chhaupadi) during menstruation among adolescent girls in Nepal: Prevalence and policies for eradication
Temporary segregation isn't the main problem here, it's that the living conditions of the segregation housing is completely inadequate. If these men are so offended by natural biological functions that gave them life, they should go live in unheated mud huts with venomous snakes and leave the young women in the comfort of their own home.
most women and girls in western hills (Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces) are banished outside their homes to a makeshift hut or cowshed during their menstrual period [4]. Those small huts made up of mud and stones without windows and locks are called Chhaupadi huts, and this tradition is called Chhaupadi [5].
Chhaupadi is a centuries-old harmful practice guided by religio-cultural beliefs in western Nepal [2, 4]. The word Chhaupadi is derived from a local Raute dialect in the far-west where "Chhau" means untouchable or unclean, and "Padi" means being or becoming [6–8]. Thus, Chhaupadi refers to a state of being untouchable/unclean. There are several sociocultural taboos during the menstruation period in the western hills of Nepal [1, 7]. For instance, people believe women are impure, untouchable, and unclean during routine menstrual periods. Those societal beliefs limit women/girls involvement in daily activities, including restrictions in eating (milk and dairy products), touching (men, water sources, livestock, plants, and kitchen items) and visiting public places (water sources, temple, prayer room and cultural ceremonies) [5, 9]. Moreover, women and girls are forced to isolate themselves and sleep inside the menstrual hut or in the cattle sheds where health hygiene is largely compromised. However, the Chhaupadi practice is not limited to menstruation and is common during postpartum [10].
Women and girls face physical and mental hardship while residing in Chhaupadi huts during mensuration [7–9]. In the past, several Chhaupadi related incidents have been reported from western hills of Nepal, such as sexual abuse, rape, attack from wild animals, snake or scorpion bites, and illness. All of these were related to poor safety and unhygienic conditions [4, 11–13]. In addition, poor hygiene and sanitation practices in Chhaupadi are compounded by the unavailability of and poor access to water and sanitation facilities, lack of sanitary napkins, and healthy environmental conditions [4]. The poor state of menstrual hygiene results in adverse health outcomes such as reproductive and genitourinary tract infections, the risk of cervical cancer, anxiety and depression [14–16]. Furthermore, in many cases, Chhaupadi practices have resulted in menstruation-related shame, fear and humiliation, poor menstrual hygiene practices, and girls’ school absenteeism in Nepal [17–19] and other low and middle-income countries
That's some biblical bullshit right there.
While I lean towards respecting others cultures and traditions, traditions like that need to be stamped out. And the way to do it is via education.
When there is no money or drive for that education, this is what happens.
Nonononono the biblical way is for the men to keep away from the women during their cycle and during the first forty days of childbirth, as a sort of break from sexual availability. This is something worse which hopefully originally stemmed from giving ladies privacy and devolved into shame and abuse.
Leviticus....
What about Leviticus? You're taking about Lev 15 right? Does it cast her out of the house to where it's unheated and has venomous snakes? How many verses in this chapter is spent on talking about discharges that would make a man be considered ceremonially unclean and how many on women?
That this several thousand year old law provide a way to purify from, and set a time limit on ceremonial uncleanliness, thousands of years before antibiotics and germ theory and known ways to avoid blood bourn infections: this is lightyears ahead of "women aren't even human" and "women are always unclean".
What is your point exactly please?
My point is this is an extreme interpretation of that same idea. It isn't new, and it isn't isolated to one religion.
Searching for a non paywalled version of this story I found previous incidents. Apparently this is a known hazard.
December 2019 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50691387
December 2016 https://www.globalcitizen.org/es/content/nepali-teen-dies-in-menstruation-hut-after-startin/
Non-paywalled coverage:
Teenage girl dies after being forced to stay in a ‘period hut’ in Nepal
The Guardian – Rojita Adhikari – 11th August 2023