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

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

Periods.

Ciklus.

Blood.

Krv.

Menstruation.

Menstruacija.

Gross.

Ljigavost.

Secret.

Tajna.

Hidden.

Skrivanje.

Why?

Zašto?

A natural biological process

Prirodni biološki proces

that every girl and woman goes through every month

kroz koji svaka devojka i žena prolazi svakog meseca

for about half of her life.

oko polovine njenog života.

A phenomenon that is so significant

Pojava koja je toliko značajna

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

da opstanak i razmnožavanje naše vrste zavise od nje.

Yet we consider it a taboo.

Ipak je smatramo tabuom.

We feel awkward and shameful talking about it.

Osećamo se neugodno i postiđeno kad govorimo o njoj.

When I got my first periods,

Kad sam dobila prvu menstruaciju,

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

rekli su mi da to čuvam kao tajnu od drugih -

even from my father and brother.

čak i od svog oca i brata.

Later when this chapter appeared in our textbooks,

Kasnije kad se poglavlje o tome pojavilo u udžbenicima,

our biology teacher skipped the subject.

naš nastavnik biologije je preskočio tu temu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

You know what I learned from it?

Znate šta sam naučila iz toga?

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

Naučila sam da je zaista sramota govoriti o tome.

I learned to be ashamed of my body.

Naučila sam da se sramim svog tela.

I learned to stay unaware of periods

Naučila sam da budem nesvesna menstruacije

in order to stay decent.

kako bih bila pristojna.

Research in various parts of India

Istraživanja u raznim krajevima Indije

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

pokazuju da tri od deset devojaka nisu upoznate s menstruacijom

at the time of their first periods.

u momentu kad je prvi put dobiju.

And in some parts of Rajasthan

A u nekim delovima Radžastana

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

cifra dostiže čak i do devet od deset devojaka nije upoznato s tim.

You'd be surprised to know

Iznenadiće vas da znate

that most of the girls that I have spoken to,

da je većina devojaka s kojima sam razgovarala,

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

koje nisu znale za menstruaciju u vreme kada su je prvi put dobile,

thought that they have got blood cancer

mislilo da ima rak krvi

and they're going to die soon.

i da će da umru uskoro.

Menstrual hygiene is a very important risk factor

Menstrualna higijena je veoma važan faktor rizika

for reproductive tract infections.

za infekcije reproduktivnog trakta.

But in India, only 12 percent of girls and women

Međutim u Indiji svega 12 procenata devojaka i žena

have access to hygienic ways of managing their periods.

ima pristup menstrualnim higijenskim sredstvima.

If you do the math,

Ako izračunate,

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

88 procenata devojaka i žena koriste nehigijenska menstrualna sredstva.

I was one of them.

Bila sam jedna od njih.

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

Odrasla sam u malom gradu po imenu Garva u Džarkandu,

where even buying a sanitary napkin is considered shameful.

gde se čak i kupovina uložaka smatra sramotom.

So when I started getting my periods,

Pa kad sam počela da dobijam menstruaciju,

I began with using rags.

koristila sam krpice.

After every use I would wash and reuse them.

Nakon svake upotrebe bih ih oprala i ponovo koristila.

But to store them,

Ali prilikom odlaganja,

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

krila bih ih i držala na mračnom, vlažnom mestu

so that nobody finds out that I'm menstruating.

kako niko ne bi saznao da imam menstruaciju.

Due to repeated washing the rags would become coarse,

Zbog stalnog pranja, krpice bi postale grube,

and I would often get rashes and infections using them.

pa bih često dobijala osip i infekcije zbog njih.

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

Kad sam napustila taj grad, već sam ih nosila pet godina.

Another issue that periods brought in my life

Dodatni razlog zašto sam se bavila menstruacijom

those of the social restrictions

su društvena ograničenja

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

koja su nametnuta devojkama i ženama kada imaju menstruaciju.

I think you all must be aware of it,

Mislim da ste ih svi vi svesni,

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

ali ću ih ipak nabrojati, zbog nekolicine vas koji niste.

I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles.

Bilo mi je zabranjeno da diram ili jedem kornišone.

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

Bilo mi je zabranjeno da sedim na kauču ili krevetu drugog člana porodice.

I had to wash my bed sheet after every period,

Morala sam da perem posteljinu nakon svakog ciklusa,

even if it was not stained.

čak iako nije bilo fleka.

I was considered impure

Smatrana sam nečistom

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

i bilo mi je zabranjeno da se molim ili diram značajne religijske objekte.

You'll find signposts outside temples

Videćete znakove pored hramova

denying the entry of menstruating girls and women.

koji brane ulazak devojkama i ženama sa menstruacijom.

Ironically,

Ironično,

most of the time it is the older woman

većinom starije žene

who imposes such restrictions on younger girls in a family.

nameću ta ograničenja mlađim devojkama u porodici.

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

Konačno, one su odrastale prihvatajući slična ograničenja kao normu.

And in the absence of any intervention,

A u odsustvu bilo kakve intervencije,

it is the myth and misconception

mitovi i zablude

that propagate from generation to generation.

se prenose s kolena na koleno.

During my years of work in this field,

Tokom godina bavljenja ovom oblašću,

I have even come across stories

čak sam nailazila na priče

where girls have to eat and wash their dishes separately.

gde devojke moraju da jedu i peru svoje posuđe odvojeno.

They're not allowed to take baths during periods,

Zabranjeno im je da se kupaju tokom menstruacije,

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

a u nekim domaćinstvima su čak odvojene od drugih članova porodice.

About 85 percent of girls and women in India

Oko 85 procenata devojaka i žena u Indiji

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

poštuje jedan ili više restriktivnih običaja tokom menstruacije svakog meseca.

Can you imagine what this does

Možete li da zamislite

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

kako se to odražava na samopoštovanje i samopouzdanje devojke?

The psychological trauma that this inflicts,

Psihološka trauma koju ovo uzrokuje

affecting her personality,

utiče na njenu ličnost,

her academic performance

njene akademske rezultate

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

i svaki aspekat odrastanja tokom ranih formativnih godina?

I religiously followed all these restrictive customs for 13 years,

Religiozno sam poštovala sve te restriktivne običaje 13 godina,

until a discussion with my partner, Tuhin,

sve dok mi razgovor s mojim partnerom, Tuhinom,

changed my perception about menstruation forever.

nije zauvek promenio doživljaj menstruacije.

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

Godine 2009, Tuhin i ja smo pohađali postdiplomske studije dizajna.

We fell in love with each other

Zaljubili smo se jedno u drugo

and I was at ease discussing periods with him.

i bez ustručavanja smo razgovarali o menstruaciji.

Tuhin knew little about periods.

Tuhin nije znao mnogo o menstruaciji.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

He was astonished to know that girls get painful cramps

Bio je iznenađen kad je saznao da devojke imaju bolne grčeve

and we bleed every month.

i da krvare svakog meseca.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Yeah.

Da.

He was completely shocked to know

Potpuno ga je zapanjilo saznanje

about the restrictions that are imposed upon menstruating girls and women

o restrikcijama koje su nametnute devojkama i ženama s menstruacijom

by their own families and their society.

od strane njihovih porodica i društva.

In order to help me with my cramps,

Kako bi mi pomogao kod grčeva,

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

otišao bi na internet i učio bi više o menstruaciji.

When he shared his findings with me,

Kada je sa mnom podelio saznanja,

I realized how little I knew about menstruation myself.

shvatila sam koliko malo sam i sama znala o menstruaciji.

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

A mnoga su se moja ubeđenja ispostavila kao mitovi.

That's when we wondered:

Tada smo se zapitali:

if we, being so well educated,

ako smo mi, koji smo dobro obrazovani,

were so ill-informed about menstruation,

tako loše informisani o menstruaciji,

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

mora da ima na milion devojaka koje su takođe loše informisane.

To study --

Kako bismo izučavali -

to understand the problem better,

kako bismo bolje razumeli problem,

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

obavila sam jednogodišnje istraživanje o nedostatku svesti o menstruaciji

and the root cause behind it.

i glavnom razlogu iza toga.

While it is generally believed

Dok se uopšteno smatra

that menstrual unawareness and misconception is a rural phenomenon,

da su neznanje i zablude o menstruaciji ruralna pojava,

during my research,

tokom mog istraživanja

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

otkrila sam da je to podjednako i urbana pojava.

And it exists with the educated urban class, also.

I postoji među obrazovanom urbanom klasom, takođe.

While talking to many parents and teachers,

Razgovarajući s mnogim roditeljima i nastavnicima,

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

otkrila sam da mnogi od njih zapravo žele da poduče devojke o ciklusu

before they have started getting their menstrual cycle.

pre nego što počnu da dobijaju menstruaciju.

And --

I -

but they lacked the proper means themselves.

ali i sami nisu imali odgovarajuća sredstva.

And since it is a taboo,

A kako je to tabu,

they feel inhibition and shameful in talking about it.

snebivali su se i bilo ih je sramota da govore o tome.

Girls nowadays get their periods in classes six and seven,

Devojčice trenutno dobijaju ciklus u šestom i sedmom razredu,

but our educational curriculum

ali naš obrazovni plan

teaches girls about periods only in standard eight and nine.

obrazuje devojke o ciklusu tek u osmom i devetom razredu osnovne škole.

And since it is a taboo,

A kako je to tabu,

teachers still skip the subject altogether.

nastavnici i dalje potpuno preskaču tu temu.

So school does not teach girls about periods,

Pa devojke ne uče u školi o ciklusu,

parents don't talk about it.

roditelji ne razgovaraju o tome.

Where do the girls go?

Kome da se devojke obrate?

Two decades ago and now --

Od pre dve decenije do sada -

nothing has changed.

nije se promenilo bilo šta.

I shared these finding with Tuhin and we wondered:

Podelila sam ova saznanja s Tuhinom i zapitali smo se:

What if we could create something

šta ako bismo napravili nešto

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

što bi pomoglo devojkama da same razumeju menstruaciju -

something that would help parents and teachers

nešto što bi pomoglo roditeljima i nastavnicima

talk about periods comfortably to young girls?

da govore devojkama bez ustručavanja o ciklusu?

During my research,

Tokom istraživanja,

I was collecting a lot of stories.

sakupila sam mnogo priča.

These were stories of experiences of girls during their periods.

To su bile priče o iskustvima devojaka tokom menstruacije.

These stories would make girls curious and interested

Ove priče bi zaintrigirale i zainteresovale devojke

in talking about menstruation in their close circle.

da govore o menstruaciji unutar njihovih uskih krugova.

That's what we wanted.

To smo i želeli.

We wanted something that would make the girls curious

Želeli smo nešto zbog čega bi devojke postale znatiželjne

and drive them to learn about it.

i što bi ih podstaklo da uče o tome.

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

Želeli smo da iskoristimo te priče da podučavamo devojke o ciklusu.

So we decided to create a comic book,

Pa smo odlučili da napravimo strip,

where the cartoon characters would enact these stories

u kome bi crtani junaci otelotvorili te priče

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

te bi tako obrazovali devojke o ciklusu na zabavan i angažovan način.

To represent girls in their different phases of puberty,

Kako bismo predstavili devojke u različitim fazama puberteta,

we have three characters.

imamo tri lika.

Pinki, who has not gotten her period yet,

Pinki, koja još uvek nije dobila menstruaciju,

Jiya who gets her period during the narrative of the book

Điju koja dobija prvu menstruaciju tokom radnje stripa

and Mira who has already been getting her period.

i Miru, koja već neko vreme ima menstruaciju.

There is a fourth character, Priya Didi.

Imamo i četvrtog lika, Priju Didi.

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

Preko nje devojke doznaju o različitim aspektima odrastanja

and menstrual hygiene management.

i o menstrualnoj higijeni.

While making the book, we took great care

Sastavljajući knjigu, obratili smo pažnju

that none of the illustrations were objectionable in any way

da nijedna ilustracija ne bude dovedena u pitanje

and that it is culturally sensitive.

i da bude kulturološki osetljiva.

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

Tokom prvog testiranja, otkrili smo da se devojkama sviđa knjiga.

They were keen on reading it

Rado su je čitale

and knowing more and more about periods on their own.

i sve više su samostalno saznavale o menstruaciji.

Parents and teachers were comfortable in talking about periods

Roditeljima i nastavnicima je bilo prijatno da govore o ciklusu

to young girls using the book,

devojkama uz pomoć knjige,

and sometimes even boys were interested in reading it.

a ponekad su čak i dečaci bili zainteresovani da je čitaju.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

The comic book helped in creating an environment

Strip je pomogao u stvaranju ambijenta

where menstruation ceased to be a taboo.

u kome menstruacija više nije bila tabu.

Many of the volunteers took this prototype themselves to educate girls

Mnogi volonteri su uzeli prvi primerak da bi podučavali devojke

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

i pokrenuli radionice svesti o ciklusu u pet različitih indijskih država.

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

A jedan od volontera je uzeo prvi primerak da bi podučavao monahe

and took it to this monastery in Ladakh.

i poneo ga je u ovaj manastir u Ladaku.

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

Sastavili smo konačnu verziju knjige pod nazivom "Strip menstrupedija"

and launched in September last year.

i objavili smo ga u septembru prošle godine.

And so far,

I do sad,

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

preko 4,000 devojaka u Indiji je obrazovano zahvaljujući ovoj knjizi -

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

And 10 different countries.

I u 10 različitih država.

We are constantly translating the book into different languages

Stalno prevodimo knjigu na različite jezike

and collaborating with local organizations

i sarađujemo s lokalnim organizacijama

to make this book available in different countries.

kako bi knjiga bila dostupna u različitim zemljama.

15 schools in different parts of India

Petnaest škola u različitim delovima Indije

have made this book a part of their school curriculum

je uvrstilo ovu knjigu u svoj školski plan rada

to teach girls about menstruation.

kako bi učili devojke o menstruacji.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

I am amazed to see how volunteers,

Zadivljena sam kad vidim kako su volonteri,

individuals, parents, teachers, school principals,

pojedinci, roditelji, nastavnici, direktori škola

have come together

kako su se okupili

and taken this menstrual awareness drive to their own communities,

i preneli su ovu potrebu za svešću o menstruaciji u svoje zajednice,

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

postarali su se da devojke saznaju za menstruaciju u pravom uzrastu

and helped in breaking this taboo.

i pomogli su u uništavanju tabua.

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

Sanjam o budućnosti u kojoj menstruacija nije prokletstvo,

not a disease,

nije bolest,

but a welcoming change in a girl's life.

već dobrodošla promena u životu devojke.

And I would --

I želela bih -

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

And I would like to end this

I želela bih da završim

with a small request to all the parents here.

malom molbom za sve roditelje ovde.

Dear parents,

Dragi roditelji,

if you would be ashamed of periods,

ako je vas sramota menstruacije,

your daughters would be, too.

i vaše će kćerke biti sramota.

So please be period positive.

Stoga, molim vas, budite menstrualno pozitivni.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)