A taboo-free way to talk about periods | Aditi Gupta

Prevoditelj: Anja Kolobarić Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

Periods.

Mjesečnice.

Blood.

Krv.

Menstruation.

Menstruacija.

Gross.

Odvratno.

Secret.

Tajna.

Hidden.

Skriveno.

Why?

Zašto?

A natural biological process

Prirodan biološki proces

that every girl and woman goes through every month

kroz koji prolazi svaka žena i djevojka svaki mjesec

for about half of her life.

tijekom gotovo polovice svog života.

A phenomenon that is so significant

Fenomen koji je toliko bitan

that the survival and propagation of our species depends on it.

da preživljavanje i nastavak naše vrste ovisi o njemu.

Yet we consider it a taboo.

No, za nas je to ipak tabu.

We feel awkward and shameful talking about it.

Neugodno nam je govoriti o njemu.

When I got my first periods,

Za vrijeme mojih prvih mjesečnica

I was told to keep it a secret from others --

rečeno mi je da to tajim od ostalih,

even from my father and brother.

čak i od oca i brata.

Later when this chapter appeared in our textbooks,

Kasnije kad se to poglavlje pojavilo u udžbenicima,

our biology teacher skipped the subject.

nastavnica iz biologije ga je preskočila.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

You know what I learned from it?

Znate li što sam naučila iz toga?

I learned that it is really shameful to talk about it.

Naučila sam da je zaista sramotno govoriti o tome.

I learned to be ashamed of my body.

Naučila sam se sramiti svoga tijela.

I learned to stay unaware of periods

Naučila sam ostati nesvjesna mjesečnica

in order to stay decent.

kako bih ostala pristojna.

Research in various parts of India

Istraživanja u raznim dijelovima Indije

shows that three out of every 10 girls are not aware of menstruation

pokazuju da tri od deset djevojaka ne znaju za menstruaciju

at the time of their first periods.

za vrijeme svojih prvih mjesečnica.

And in some parts of Rajasthan

U nekim dijelovima Rajasthana

this number is as high as nine out of 10 girls being unaware of it.

devet od deset djevojaka ne zna za nju.

You'd be surprised to know

Iznenadila bi vas činjenica

that most of the girls that I have spoken to,

da većina djevojčica s kojima sam razgovarala,

who did not know about periods at the time of their first menstruation

a koje nisu znale za mjesečnicu za vrijeme svojih prvih menstruacija,

thought that they have got blood cancer

misli da ima rak krvi

and they're going to die soon.

i da će uskoro umrijeti.

Menstrual hygiene is a very important risk factor

Higijena za vrijeme menstruacije jako je važan faktor rizika

for reproductive tract infections.

za infekcije reproduktivnog trakta.

But in India, only 12 percent of girls and women

No, u Indiji tek 12 % djevojaka i žena

have access to hygienic ways of managing their periods.

ima pristup higijenskim načinima brige o svojim mjesečnicama.

If you do the math,

Ako malo razmislite, to znači da

88 percent of girls and women use unhygienic ways to manage their periods.

88% djevojaka i žena na nehigijenske načine brine o svojim mjesečnicama.

I was one of them.

Ja sam bila jedna od njih.

I grew up in a small town called Garhwa, in Jharkhand,

Odrasla sam u Garhwi, malom gradiću u Jharkhandu,

where even buying a sanitary napkin is considered shameful.

gdje je i kupovanje uloška bilo sramotno.

So when I started getting my periods,

Kad sam počela dobivati mjesečnice,

I began with using rags.

koristila sam krpe.

After every use I would wash and reuse them.

Nakon svake upotrebe, oprala bih ih i ponovno koristila.

But to store them,

Čuvala sam ih

I would hide and keep it in a dark, damp place

tako što sam ih spremila na mračno i vlažno mjesto

so that nobody finds out that I'm menstruating.

kako nitko ne bi saznao da imam menstruaciju.

Due to repeated washing the rags would become coarse,

Krpe su postale grube zbog učestalog pranja,

and I would often get rashes and infections using them.

pa sam često od njih dobivala osipe i infekcije.

I wore these already for five years until I moved out of that town.

Nosila sam ih pet godina sve dok nisam otišla iz tog grada.

Another issue that periods brought in my life

Mjesečnice su mi donijele još jedan problem

those of the social restrictions

društvena ograničenja

that are imposed upon our girls and women when they're on their periods.

koja se nameću djevojkama i ženama za trajanja mjesečnice.

I think you all must be aware of it,

Mislim da ste svi toga svjesni,

but I'll still list it for the few who don't.

ali navest ću ih za vas koji ne znate za njih.

I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles.

Nisam smjela jesti ili dirati kisele krastavce.

I was not allowed to sit on the sofa or some other family member's bed.

Nisam smjela sjediti na kauču ili na krevetu drugog člana obitelji.

I had to wash my bed sheet after every period,

Morala sam prati plahte nakon svake mjesečnice,

even if it was not stained.

čak i kad nisu bile prljave.

I was considered impure

Nisam bila dovoljno čista,

and forbidden from worshipping or touching any object of religious importance.

pa nisam smjela dirati ili štovati bilo kakav predmet od religijskog značaja.

You'll find signposts outside temples

Ispred hramova stoje znakovi

denying the entry of menstruating girls and women.

kojima se zabranjuje ulaz djevojkama i ženama koje imaju menstruaciju.

Ironically,

Ironično je to

most of the time it is the older woman

što uglavnom starije žene

who imposes such restrictions on younger girls in a family.

nameću takva ograničenja na mlađe djevojke u obitelji.

After all, they have grown up accepting such restrictions as norms.

One su odrasle prihvaćajući takva ograničenja kao pravila.

And in the absence of any intervention,

Kako nitko ne poduzima ništa,

it is the myth and misconception

mitovi i zablude

that propagate from generation to generation.

prenose se s generacije na generaciju.

During my years of work in this field,

Dok sam radila na ovom području,

I have even come across stories

čak sam čula

where girls have to eat and wash their dishes separately.

kako djevojke odvojeno jedu i peru svoje suđe.

They're not allowed to take baths during periods,

Ne smije se kupati dok im mjesečnica traje,

and in some households they are even secluded from other family members.

a u nekim kućanstvima odvojene su od drugih članova obitelji.

About 85 percent of girls and women in India

Oko 85 % djevojaka i žena u Indiji

would follow one or more restrictive customs on their periods every month.

slijedi jedan ili više ograničavajućih običaja svaki mjesec.

Can you imagine what this does

Zamislite kakav to učinak ima

to the self-esteem and self-confidence of a young girl?

na samopoštovanje i samopouzdanje mlade djevojke.

The psychological trauma that this inflicts,

Kakve psihološke traume zadaje,

affecting her personality,

utječući na njezinu osobnost,

her academic performance

akademski uspjeh

and every single aspect of growing up during her early formative years?

i svaki drugi aspekt odrastanja za vrijeme njezinih godina razvijanja?

I religiously followed all these restrictive customs for 13 years,

Revno sam pratila te običaje 13 godina,

until a discussion with my partner, Tuhin,

sve dok razgovor s Tuhinom, mojim partnerom,

changed my perception about menstruation forever.

nije zauvijek promijenio moje viđenje menstruacije.

In 2009, Tuhin and I were pursuing our postgraduation in design.

G. 2009. Tuhin i ja bili smo diplomski studenti dizajna.

We fell in love with each other

Zaljubili smo se

and I was at ease discussing periods with him.

i bilo mi je ugodno raspravljati s njim o mjesečnicama

Tuhin knew little about periods.

jer je on o njima znao malo.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

He was astonished to know that girls get painful cramps

Iznenadilo ga je to što imamo bolne grčeve

and we bleed every month.

i krvarimo svaki mjesec.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Yeah.

Da.

He was completely shocked to know

Bio je potpuno šokiran

about the restrictions that are imposed upon menstruating girls and women

ograničenjima koja se nameću ženama i djevojkama dok menstruiraju

by their own families and their society.

od strane njihovih obitelji i društava.

In order to help me with my cramps,

Kako bi mi pomogao s grčevima

he would go on the Internet and learn more about menstruation.

na internetu je istraživao o menstruaciji.

When he shared his findings with me,

Kad je sa mnom podijelio svoja saznanja,

I realized how little I knew about menstruation myself.

shvatila sam koliko malo znam o tome.

And many of my beliefs actually turned out to be myths.

Ispostavilo se da su mnoga moja vjerovanja tek mitovi.

That's when we wondered:

Tad sam se zapitala:

if we, being so well educated,

ako smo mi, educirani ljudi,

were so ill-informed about menstruation,

toliko pogrešno informirani o tome,

there would be millions of girls out there who would be ill-informed, too.

vjerojatno postoje i milijuni drugih djevojčica koje su u istoj situaciji.

To study --

Kako bih proučavala,

to understand the problem better,

odnosno bolje razumjela problematiku,

I undertook a year-long research to study the lack of awareness about menstruation

provela sam jednogodišnje istraživanje o manjku svijesti o menstruaciji

and the root cause behind it.

i njezinom glavnom uzroku.

While it is generally believed

Iako se vjeruje

that menstrual unawareness and misconception is a rural phenomenon,

da su neinformiranost i zablude o mjesečnici ruralni fenomen,

during my research,

istraživanjem sam otkrila

I found that it is as much an urban phenomenon as well.

da je to i urbani fenomen

And it exists with the educated urban class, also.

te se javlja i među obrazovanom urbanom klasom.

While talking to many parents and teachers,

Razgovarajući s mnogim roditeljima i učiteljima,

I found that many of them actually wanted to educate girls about periods

otkrila sam da mnogi zapravo žele informirati djevojke o mjesečnicama

before they have started getting their menstrual cycle.

prije nego što ih počnu dobivati.

And --

Ali

but they lacked the proper means themselves.

ni sami nisu znali kako.

And since it is a taboo,

Budući da je to tabu-tema,

they feel inhibition and shameful in talking about it.

sramotno im je govoriti o tome.

Girls nowadays get their periods in classes six and seven,

U današnje vrijeme djevojke dobivaju prvu mjesečnicu u 6. i 7. razredu,

but our educational curriculum

ali naš obrazovni kurikulum

teaches girls about periods only in standard eight and nine.

uči djevojke o njima tek u 8. razredu i u 1. razredu srednje škole.

And since it is a taboo,

Budući da je to tabu-tema,

teachers still skip the subject altogether.

profesori još uvijek jednostavno preskaču tu temu.

So school does not teach girls about periods,

Škola ne uči djevojke o mjesečnicama,

parents don't talk about it.

roditelji ne pričaju o njima.

Where do the girls go?

Što s djevojkama?

Two decades ago and now --

Prije dva desetljeća i danas --

nothing has changed.

baš se ništa nije promijenilo.

I shared these finding with Tuhin and we wondered:

Ova sam otkrića podijelila s Tuhinom i zapitali smo se:

What if we could create something

možemo li stvoriti nešto

that would help girls understand about menstruation on their own --

što bi pomoglo djevojkama da same shvate mjesečnicu -

something that would help parents and teachers

nešto što bi pomoglo roditeljima i učiteljima

talk about periods comfortably to young girls?

da bez srama o njima razgovaraju s djevojkama.

During my research,

Za istraživanja

I was collecting a lot of stories.

prikupila sam puno priča.

These were stories of experiences of girls during their periods.

Priče o iskustvima djevojaka o mjesečnicama.

These stories would make girls curious and interested

Te su priče zainteresirale djevojke

in talking about menstruation in their close circle.

da razgovaraju o mjesečnicama u svojim užim krugovima.

That's what we wanted.

To smo i htjeli.

We wanted something that would make the girls curious

Htjeli smo nešto što će u djevojkama probuditi znatiželju

and drive them to learn about it.

i natjerati ih da uče o tome.

We wanted to use these stories to teach girls about periods.

Htjeli smo iskoristiti ove priče da djevojke učimo o mjesečnicama.

So we decided to create a comic book,

Odlučili smo stvoriti strip

where the cartoon characters would enact these stories

u kojem likovi iz crtića glume ove priče

and educate girls about menstruation in a fun and engaging way.

i uče djevojke o mjesečnici na zanimljiv način.

To represent girls in their different phases of puberty,

Djevojke u različitim fazama puberteta

we have three characters.

predstavljaju tri različita lika.

Pinki, who has not gotten her period yet,

Pinki, koja još nije dobila mjesečnicu,

Jiya who gets her period during the narrative of the book

Jiya, koja će je dobiti za vrijeme knjige,

and Mira who has already been getting her period.

i Mira, koja je već neko vrijeme dobiva.

There is a fourth character, Priya Didi.

Imamo i četvrtog lika - Priyu Didi.

Through her, girls come to know about the various aspects of growing up

Kroz nju djevojke uče o različitim aspektima odrastanja

and menstrual hygiene management.

i o menstrualnoj higijeni.

While making the book, we took great care

Dok smo pisali knjigu, pazili smo

that none of the illustrations were objectionable in any way

da nijedna ilustracija ne bude neprihvatljiva ni na koji način

and that it is culturally sensitive.

i da je kulturološki prihvatljiva.

During our prototype testing, we found that the girls loved the book.

Za vrijeme testiranja prototipa, otkrismo da se knjiga djevojkama jako sviđa.

They were keen on reading it

Čitale su je sa zadovoljstvom

and knowing more and more about periods on their own.

i samostalno učile o mjesečnicama.

Parents and teachers were comfortable in talking about periods

Roditeljima i učiteljima bilo je ugodno o mjesečnicama govoriti

to young girls using the book,

djevojkama pomoću knjige,

and sometimes even boys were interested in reading it.

a nekada je knjiga bila zanimljiva i dječacima.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

The comic book helped in creating an environment

Strip je pomogao u stvaranju okruženja

where menstruation ceased to be a taboo.

u kojem menstruacija više nije tabu-tema.

Many of the volunteers took this prototype themselves to educate girls

Mnogi volonteri iskoristili su ovaj prototip kako bi učili djevojke

and take menstrual awareness workshops in five different states in India.

i organizirali radionice o svijesti o menstruaciji u 5 indijskih država.

And one of the volunteers took this prototype to educate young monks

Jedan volonter iskoristio je ovaj prototip za učenje mladih redovnika

and took it to this monastery in Ladakh.

u samostanu u Ladakhu.

We made the final version of the book, called "Menstrupedia Comic"

Konačna verzija knjige "Menstrupedija Strip"

and launched in September last year.

objavljena je rujnu prošle godine.

And so far,

Dosad je

more than 4,000 girls have been educated by using the book in India and --

više od 4 000 djevojaka poučeno koristeći ovu knjigu u Indiji i --

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

And 10 different countries.

I deset različitih država.

We are constantly translating the book into different languages

Knjiga se stalno prevodi

and collaborating with local organizations

i surađujemo s lokalnim organizacijama

to make this book available in different countries.

kako bi ova knjiga bila dostupna u različitim državama.

15 schools in different parts of India

Petnaest škola u različitim dijelovima Indije

have made this book a part of their school curriculum

ovu su knjigu uvrstili u školski kurikulum

to teach girls about menstruation.

kako bi poučavali djevojke.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

I am amazed to see how volunteers,

Očarana sam time kako su se volonteri,

individuals, parents, teachers, school principals,

pojedinci, roditelji, učitelji, ravnatelji

have come together

udružili

and taken this menstrual awareness drive to their own communities,

i proširili svijest o mjesečnici u vlastitim zajednicama

have made sure that the girls learn about periods at the right age

te osigurali da djevojke na vrijeme uče o njoj

and helped in breaking this taboo.

i na taj način ovo prestane biti tabu-tema.

I dream of a future where menstruation is not a curse,

Sanjam o budućnosti u kojoj mjesečnica neće biti kletva

not a disease,

niti bolest,

but a welcoming change in a girl's life.

već dobrodošla promjena u životu mlade djevojke.

And I would --

I htjela bih --

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

And I would like to end this

Završila bih ovaj govor

with a small request to all the parents here.

malom zamolbom za sve prisutne roditelje.

Dear parents,

Dragi roditelji,

if you would be ashamed of periods,

ako se vi sramite svojih mjesečnica,

your daughters would be, too.

sramit će ih se i vaše kćeri,

So please be period positive.

stoga, molim vas, budite pozitivni po ovom pitanju.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)