Hindi English Translation || Editorial || A full stop: On the top court, the right to menstrual health and hygiene

A full stop: On the top court, the right to menstrual health and hygiene

Making access to menstrual hygiene for girls a fundamental right is a big step

The perspicacious (Showing deep understanding and insight) judgment of the Supreme Court last week encapsulating (समाहित करना, संक्षिप्त करना) the right to menstrual health and hygiene into the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution is precisely the kind of intervention needed, with all the power of Thor’s hammer (A metaphor for powerful and decisive action). A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan wrote in their sterling (उत्कृष्ट, शानदार) judgment that takes a rare, rights-based, 360 degree view of the problem: “Autonomy (स्वायत्तता, स्वतंत्रता) can be meaningfully (सार्थक रूप से, अर्थपूर्ण ढंग से) exercised (प्रयोग किया, इस्तेमाल किया) only when girl children have access to functional toilets, adequate menstrual products, availability of water, and hygienic mechanisms for disposal.” Shifting the onus (दायित्व, जिम्मेदारी), the judges called upon (Asked or urged to act) the state to make menstrual health accessible to all girls and remove the triptych (A group of three related problems) of stigma (कलंक, सामाजिक धब्बा), stereotyping (Judging people based on fixed general ideas) and humiliation (अपमान, निरादर) that girls who do not have access to these facilities are regularly subject to (सामना करना पड़ना, के अधीन होना). The judges noted that this violates (उल्लंघन करना) the bodily autonomy of menstruating girl children. Terming it as ‘menstrual poverty’, the Bench said that it hinders menstruating girls from exercising their right to education with dignity equal to their male counterparts, or students who can afford sanitary products. The Court ordered States and Union Territories to ensure that every school has functional, gender-segregated toilets, and wrote in punitive action for non-compliance. The state will be held accountable if government-run schools did not comply, and private schools can be derecognised.

The lack of access to health-care products during menstruation, even clean water and toilets, arises from a clear, gendered lack of equity. While the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data claim that the percentage of women aged 15-24 years using hygienic methods during their menstrual cycles has risen to 77.3% in NFHS-5 from 57.6% in NFHS-4, it still leaves about a fourth of all women of eligible age in the country adrift, without support. While the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has said that it has developed guidelines on menstrual hygiene management for creating awareness in rural areas, implementation has always been patchy and the energy is project-based, not sustained. Fragmented, though well-meaning, efforts by non-governmental organisations have formed the bulk of interventions for years now, but the ability to erase the stigma requires a larger force to act. With the judgment there is finally a chance of that happening. Commitment from a policy and financial perspective alone can ensure menstrual hygiene for all young girls and women and enable them to achieve their full potential. As the judges said, inspired by the motto of The Pad Project: “A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.”

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Encapsulating (Verb)

Hindi Meaning – समाहित करना, संक्षिप्त करना
English Meaning – Including or covering something fully.

2.Sterling (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – उत्कृष्ट, शानदार
English Meaning – Of excellent quality.

3.Autonomy (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – स्वायत्तता, स्वतंत्रता
English Meaning – The ability to make independent decisions.

4.Meaningfully (Adverb)

Hindi Meaning – सार्थक रूप से, अर्थपूर्ण ढंग से
English Meaning – In a way that has real value or effect.

5.Exercised (Verb)

Hindi Meaning – प्रयोग किया, इस्तेमाल किया
English Meaning – Used or practised (a right).

6.Onus (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – दायित्व, जिम्मेदारी
English Meaning – Responsibility or duty.

7.Violates (Verb)

Hindi Meaning – उल्लंघन करना
English Meaning – Breaks or goes against a right or rule.

8.Stigma (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – कलंक, सामाजिक धब्बा
English Meaning – Social shame attached to something.

9.Humiliation (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – अपमान, निरादर
English Meaning – Feeling of deep shame or embarrassment.

10.Subject to (Phrase)

Hindi Meaning – सामना करना पड़ना, के अधीन होना
English Meaning – Forced to experience something unpleasant.

11.Called upon (Phrasal Verb)

English Meaning – Asked or urged to act.

12.Stereotyping (Noun)

English Meaning – Judging people based on fixed general ideas.

13.Perspicacious (Adjective)

English Meaning – Showing deep understanding and insight.

14.Thor's hammer (Noun)

English Meaning – A metaphor for powerful and decisive action.

15.Triptych (Noun)

English Meaning – A group of three related problems.