Periods. Blood. Menstruation. Gross. Secret. Hidden. Why?
經期 血 月經 核突 秘密 遮遮掩掩 點解?
A natural biological process that every girl and woman goes through every month for about half of her life. A phenomenon that is so significant that the survival and propagation of our species depends on it. Yet we consider it a taboo. We feel awkward and shameful talking about it.
呢個係每個女仔同女人 半世人每個月都會經歷嘅 自然生理過程 呢個現象好緊要 因為關乎人類生存同繁殖後代 但是我哋覺得呢啲係禁忌 講呢樣嗰時又尷尬又覺得羞恥
When I got my first periods, I was told to keep it a secret from others -- even from my father and brother. Later when this chapter appeared in our textbooks, our biology teacher skipped the subject.
當我嚟咗第一次經期時 有人叫我唔好話俾人聽 連兄弟同爸爸,都唔好講 無幾耐,當我嘅敎科書講到呢樣嘢 我嘅生物科老師竟然跳過呢個課題
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
You know what I learned from it? I learned that it is really shameful to talk about it. I learned to be ashamed of my body. I learned to stay unaware of periods in order to stay decent.
你知我從中學到乜嘢? 就係學識講呢樣嘢係好羞恥 對自己嘅身體感到難為情 學識點樣唔覺經期嚟咗 咁樣就可以好莊重
Research in various parts of India shows that three out of every 10 girls are not aware of menstruation at the time of their first periods. And in some parts of Rajasthan this number is as high as nine out of 10 girls being unaware of it. You'd be surprised to know that most of the girls that I have spoken to, who did not know about periods at the time of their first menstruation thought that they have got blood cancer and they're going to die soon.
有研究顯示印度各地方 每十個女孩就有三個 第一次嚟經都唔知道咩係月經 拉賈欺坦有啲地方 每十個女仔有多到九個都唔識 你哋會好出奇 我同好多女仔傾過 佢哋竟然唔知第一次經期就係月經 仲以為係患咗血癌 以為要死
Menstrual hygiene is a very important risk factor for reproductive tract infections. But in India, only 12 percent of girls and women have access to hygienic ways of managing their periods. If you do the math, 88 percent of girls and women use unhygienic ways to manage their periods.
經期嘅衛生係 生殖系統感染嘅最主要病因 印度淨係得 12% 婦女 知道點喺經期保持衛生 如果你計下數 就知有 88% 婦女經期處理得唔衛生
I was one of them. I grew up in a small town called Garhwa, in Jharkhand, where even buying a sanitary napkin is considered shameful. So when I started getting my periods, I began with using rags. After every use I would wash and reuse them. But to store them, I would hide and keep it in a dark, damp place so that nobody finds out that I'm menstruating. Due to repeated washing the rags would become coarse, and I would often get rashes and infections using them.
我就係其中一個 我係加爾克漢德省加爾赫瓦小城長大 聽到啲人連去買衛生巾 我都覺得好瘀 初初我有經期嗰時,我用啲碎布 每次用完都會洗乾淨再用過 但係收拾嗰時 就要收埋係又黑又濕嘅地方 咁樣就無人知道我月經嚟咗 由於重覆清洗,碎布已經粗糙 我用咗之後,成日出疹或者感染病
I wore these already for five years until I moved out of that town. Another issue that periods brought in my life those of the social restrictions that are imposed upon our girls and women when they're on their periods. I think you all must be aware of it, but I'll still list it for the few who don't.
我用咗足足五年 直到我搬離呢個城市 經期對我嘅生活帶嚟另外一個問題 就係嗰啲強加於 月經來潮嘅婦女嘅社會限制 我諗你哋一定好清楚 但我仲係列曬出嚟 講俾唔知嘅人聽
I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles. I was not allowed to sit on the sofa or some other family member's bed. I had to wash my bed sheet after every period, even if it was not stained. I was considered impure and forbidden from worshipping or touching any object of religious importance. You'll find signposts outside temples denying the entry of menstruating girls and women.
唔准掂同食醃菜 唔准坐梳化或者屋企人嘅床上 每次經期完咗要洗床單 就算床單無汚糟到 他們認為我唔純潔 禁止我參拜或者掂一啲聖物 你會發現寺廟出面有牌路牌 禁止正在嚟緊經期嘅婦女進入
Ironically, most of the time it is the older woman who imposes such restrictions on younger girls in a family. After all, they have grown up accepting such restrictions as norms. And in the absence of any intervention, it is the myth and misconception that propagate from generation to generation.
真係諷刺 好多時上咗年紀嘅女人 將咁樣嘅限制對付屋企嘅細路女 雖然咁樣,佢哋大個咗之後 將限制當作常規 由於冇人阻止 呢啲鬼話同誤解一代一代咁傳落去
During my years of work in this field, I have even come across stories where girls have to eat and wash their dishes separately. They're not allowed to take baths during periods, and in some households they are even secluded from other family members. About 85 percent of girls and women in India would follow one or more restrictive customs on their periods every month. Can you imagine what this does to the self-esteem and self-confidence of a young girl? The psychological trauma that this inflicts, affecting her personality, her academic performance and every single aspect of growing up during her early formative years?
我係呢個領域工作嗰時 曾經聽過有啲傳說 話嚟咗經期嘅女仔 要分開洗自己用過嘅碗碟 又唔准冲涼 有啲家庭甚至將佢哋同屋企人隔離 大約有 85% 印度婦女喺月經來潮時 要遵守一個或以上嘅風俗規限 你想像得到咁樣對女仔嘅自尊同自信 有乜嘢影響? 佢哋遭受呢啲心理創傷會影響早年成長 包括個性、學業成績 同長大期間嘅每個環節
I religiously followed all these restrictive customs for 13 years, until a discussion with my partner, Tuhin, changed my perception about menstruation forever. In 2009, Tuhin and I were pursuing our postgraduation in design. We fell in love with each other and I was at ease discussing periods with him. Tuhin knew little about periods.
我虔誠遵守呢啲風俗約束已經 13 年 直到我跟自己嘅伴侶 Tuhin 討論過 至永遠改變對月經嘅睇法 2009年,我同佢攻讀設計學研究 我哋共墮愛河 我好輕鬆同佢討論月經的事情 佢知道少少
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
He was astonished to know that girls get painful cramps and we bleed every month.
佢對於我哋每月都出血 同腹部絞痛,感到驚訝
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Yeah. He was completely shocked to know about the restrictions that are imposed upon menstruating girls and women by their own families and their society. In order to help me with my cramps, he would go on the Internet and learn more about menstruation. When he shared his findings with me, I realized how little I knew about menstruation myself. And many of my beliefs actually turned out to be myths.
係囉 佢好震驚 知道呢啲加喺經期婦女嘅規限 居然係嚟自自己社會同屋企人 佢為咗幫我解決腹絞痛嘅問題 佢上網學習更多月經知識 當佢俾我睇佢搵到嘅資料時 我先至發覺自己對月經嘅認識好皮毛 好多我哋嘅傳統睇法其實都係鬼話
That's when we wondered: if we, being so well educated, were so ill-informed about menstruation, there would be millions of girls out there who would be ill-informed, too. To study -- to understand the problem better, I undertook a year-long research to study the lack of awareness about menstruation and the root cause behind it.
我哋於是諗: 如果我哋接受咗高等敎育 對月經都有誤解 咁樣嗰啲數以百萬嘅女仔都會一樣 為咗加深了解呢個問題 我入讀咗一年碩士課程 研究人民對月經缺乏認識 同埋背後嘅原因
While it is generally believed that menstrual unawareness and misconception is a rural phenomenon, during my research, I found that it is as much an urban phenomenon as well. And it exists with the educated urban class, also. While talking to many parents and teachers, I found that many of them actually wanted to educate girls about periods before they have started getting their menstrual cycle. And -- but they lacked the proper means themselves. And since it is a taboo, they feel inhibition and shameful in talking about it.
通常啲人相信 鄉村嘅地方至會有呢啲現象 但我硏究期間 發現原來市區都係一樣 而且出現喺受過教育嘅階層 我同過好多家長、老師傾過 發現佢地多數都想喺女仔月經開始前 敎佢哋月經嘅知識 唔⋯ 但係家長同敎師都冇啱嘅方法 因為月經係社會禁忌 佢哋講呢樣嘢嘅時候 覺得拘謹同好羞恥
Girls nowadays get their periods in classes six and seven, but our educational curriculum teaches girls about periods only in standard eight and nine. And since it is a taboo, teachers still skip the subject altogether.
而家嘅女仔六、七年班開始有經期 但我哋嘅教育課程到八、九年班先教 由於呢啲係禁忌 教師仍然跳過呢個課題
So school does not teach girls about periods, parents don't talk about it. Where do the girls go? Two decades ago and now -- nothing has changed. I shared these finding with Tuhin and we wondered: What if we could create something that would help girls understand about menstruation on their own -- something that would help parents and teachers talk about periods comfortably to young girls?
於是學校唔講 父母唔講 咁啲女仔點算? 由廿年前至到宜家 無嘢改過 我將自己嘅發現話俾 Tuhin 聽 我哋於是諗,不如我哋諗啲嘢 幫啲女仔自己去了解月經 又幫啲家長同老師 舒服咁同啲女仔講下經期呢?
During my research, I was collecting a lot of stories. These were stories of experiences of girls during their periods. These stories would make girls curious and interested in talking about menstruation in their close circle. That's what we wanted. We wanted something that would make the girls curious and drive them to learn about it. We wanted to use these stories to teach girls about periods.
我做硏究期間 收集好多關於 女仔月經來潮經歷嘅故仔 呢啲故仔會令到女仔好奇同有意 喺自己嘅小圈子講呢樣嘢 呢個就係我哋嘅目的 我哋想有啲嘢令到女仔好奇 然後令佢哋走去了解月經 我哋想用呢啲故事去敎佢哋
So we decided to create a comic book, where the cartoon characters would enact these stories and educate girls about menstruation in a fun and engaging way. To represent girls in their different phases of puberty, we have three characters. Pinki, who has not gotten her period yet, Jiya who gets her period during the narrative of the book and Mira who has already been getting her period. There is a fourth character, Priya Didi. Through her, girls come to know about the various aspects of growing up and menstrual hygiene management.
於是決定創作一本漫畫書 書中嘅卡通人物會扮演呢啲故事 用有趣同搞笑的方法敎識佢哋 我哋有三個人物 代表女仔青春期嘅唔同階段 Pinki 還未有經期嚟 Jiya 剛剛經期嚟到 Mira 已經嚟過經期 第四個人物係 Priya Didi 因為佢,啲女仔知道成長嘅各種嘢 同點樣保持經期衛生
While making the book, we took great care that none of the illustrations were objectionable in any way and that it is culturally sensitive. During our prototype testing, we found that the girls loved the book. They were keen on reading it and knowing more and more about periods on their own. Parents and teachers were comfortable in talking about periods to young girls using the book, and sometimes even boys were interested in reading it.
我哋好有心機創作呢本書 漫畫插圖唔會惹人反感 但文化題材有啲敏感 我哋做樣本測試時 發現啲女仔好鍾意本書 佢哋好想睇呢本書 等自己知道多啲經期嘅知識 家長同老師可以好輕鬆咁利用呢本書 同啲細路女討論經期 有時連男仔都有興趣睇下呢本書
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
The comic book helped in creating an environment where menstruation ceased to be a taboo. Many of the volunteers took this prototype themselves to educate girls and take menstrual awareness workshops in five different states in India. And one of the volunteers took this prototype to educate young monks and took it to this monastery in Ladakh.
呢本漫畫書營做咗一個環境 令月經唔再係禁忌 好多義工帶呢本樣本書 去印度五個地方敎啲女仔 仲舉行埋認識經期嘅工作坊 有一個義工帶咗本書去教年輕僧人 仲帶本書到去 Ladakh 嘅修道院
We made the final version of the book, called "Menstrupedia Comic" and launched in September last year. And so far, more than 4,000 girls have been educated by using the book in India and --
我哋訂咗書最後嘅版本 叫做 Menstrupedia Comic 而且喺舊年九月發行 到目前為止 已經有多過四千個印度 同其他十個國家嘅女仔讀過本書
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you.
多謝
(Applause)
(掌聲)
And 10 different countries. We are constantly translating the book into different languages and collaborating with local organizations to make this book available in different countries.
好多女仔讀過本書 我哋一直將本書翻譯成唔同語言 仲同本地機構合作 等呢本書係唔同國家都見到
15 schools in different parts of India have made this book a part of their school curriculum to teach girls about menstruation.
15 間嚟自印度唔同地方嘅學校 已經將呢本書加入學校嘅課程 敎女仔月經嘅知識
(Applause)
(掌聲)
I am amazed to see how volunteers, individuals, parents, teachers, school principals, have come together and taken this menstrual awareness drive to their own communities, have made sure that the girls learn about periods at the right age and helped in breaking this taboo.
我好驚訝見到義工、父母、老師 校長同其他人走埋一齊 已經將呢種認知帶到自己嘅社區 令到啲女仔係適當嘅年齡了解經期 幫助打破經期嘅禁忌
I dream of a future where menstruation is not a curse, not a disease, but a welcoming change in a girl's life. And I would --
我夢想將來月經唔會係一種咀咒 亦唔係一種病 而係女仔歡迎嘅人生改變 我仲會....
(Applause)
(掌聲)
And I would like to end this with a small request to all the parents here.
結束今日嘅演講之前 我想向在座嘅所有父母有一個小要求
Dear parents, if you would be ashamed of periods, your daughters would be, too. So please be period positive.
各位爸爸媽媽 如果你對經期覺得羞恥 咁你哋個女都會一樣 請你哋對經期抱著積極的態度
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Thank you.
多謝
(Applause)
(掌聲)