Periods. Blood. Menstruation. Gross. Secret. Hidden. Why?
月經, 血, 經血, 噁心, 秘密, 遮掩。 為什麼?
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.
這是自然的生理過程, 每個女孩、女人每個月 都必須經歷這事, 她們的大半人生都是如此度過。 這個生理反應之重要, 影響了人類的生存與繁衍。 然而我們卻視其為忌諱。 一談到月經,我們就覺得 不自在,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.
我初經來潮時, 被教導要保密—— 即使對生父及親兄弟也是如此。 之後我看到教科書上 有一章談到此事, 生物老師卻直接跳過。
(Laughter)
(大笑)
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.
知道我從中學到什麼嗎? 我學到人們以談論此事為恥。 我學到以自己的身體為恥。 我學到不要正視月經 好顯得莊重。
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.
印度許多的研究 顯示每十個女孩就有三個 在初經來潮時忽視月經。 而在西印拉賈斯坦邦有些地方 十個女孩中有九個不重視月經。 你們會對大部分跟我談過的女孩 因為不知道月經, 而在她們初經來潮時 以為自己得了血癌 並很快就要死了一事感到驚訝。
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.
經期衛生對於引發生殖道感染 是很重要的因素。 然而在印度, 只有百分之十二的女性 有辦法在經期保持清潔, 算算看, 有百分之八十八的女性沒辦法 在經期注意個人衛生。
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.
我也是其中之一。 我在賈坎德邦上的小鎮加瓦縣長大, 在那裡連購買衛生巾 都是很羞恥的事。 所以當我開始來月經的時候, 我使用的是碎布。 每次用完,我都會洗乾淨重複使用, 但要保存這些布, 我必須把它們藏在陰暗潮濕的地方 才不會有人發現我正在行經。 因為反覆清洗,這些布變得很粗, 我常常因此長疹子或過敏。
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.
在離開小鎮前, 我已經如此過了五年。 另一件月經帶給我生活帶來的問題是, 整個社會強壓在 我們這些經期中的女孩和女人 身上的約束。 我想你們應該意識到這一點, 但為了顧及那些不知道的人, 我再說一次,
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.
我不被允許觸摸或食用醃漬物。 我不被允許坐在沙發 或其他家人的床上。 每次月經完,我都必須洗床單。 就算床單什麼也沒沾到, 我被認為是不潔的 所以禁止敬拜或碰觸 任何宗教相關的物件。 寺廟外面有各種 禁止經期中女性進入的標誌。
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.
諷刺的是, 通常是年長女性 強迫家族中的年輕女性 履行這些約束。 畢竟,她們生長的過程中 就是奉此為圭臬。 而因為無人介入, 這類迷信與誤解 就此代代流傳下來。
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?
我多年在此領域中耕耘, 甚至聽過有的女孩們必須 分桌吃飯和分開洗餐具。 她們在經期間不得洗盆浴, 在某些家庭中,她們甚至 與家族成員隔離。 在印度有百分之八十五的女性 都默認經期間有一種以上的 道德約束加諸己身。 你們能想像 這對年輕女孩的自尊 和自信心影響多大嗎? 這些事造成的心理創傷, 對人格的影響, 對學業成就的影響 以及對早期成長過程中 各方面的影響有多大呢?
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.
因信仰的緣故,我服從 這些規範十三年之久, 直到一次我跟夥伴杜辛深談, 才永久改變了我對月經的概念。 2009年時我和杜辛正為 從設計系畢業努力。 我們墜入愛河, 我跟他談到月經時是很自在的。 杜辛對月經所知甚少。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
He was astonished to know that girls get painful cramps and we bleed every month.
他對女性經痛症狀 及每月出血一事感到震驚。
(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.
沒錯。 他對女人在經期時受自家人 及社會所設下的約束 感到徹底的震驚。 為了舒緩我的經痛症狀, 我們上網搜尋經期相關資訊。 當他跟我分享他找到的訊息時, 我才發現自己對行經一事所知甚淺。 而許多我所信奉的事原來不過是迷信。
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.
於是我們開始懷疑: 如果連受過高等教育的我們, 都對月經一事誤解這麼大, 一定有數百萬的女性 也對月經不清不楚。 為了深讀、 並更了解問題本身, 我花了整整一年來找出 人們對月經的忽視 及其背後的元兇。
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.
通常我們會認為 對月經無知、誤解是鄉村現象, 但根據我的調查, 這在城市也是普遍的現象。 對城市中受教育階級也是如此。 我在訪問許多家長及師長時, 發現很多人其實很想 在女孩們初經來潮前 教育她們有關月經的知識。 然而—— 她們苦於沒有適當的渠道。 而因為這是個忌諱的議題, 她們對談及此事感到壓抑及羞恥。
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.
現在的女孩們在六、七年級就來月經, 但我們的學校課程 卻在標準的八、九年級 課程中才談到月經。 而因為此事是禁忌, 師長們仍是不約而同地 跳過這個主題。
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?
所以學校不教月經, 家長不談月經。 女孩們怎麼辦? 二十年過去了, 今天還是如此,沒有任何改變。 我跟杜辛分享這些成果,我們在想: 是不是能創造些 幫助女性了解自己經期 並讓家長和師長們 自在地和年輕女性談到月經的事呢?
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.
在我調查的過程中, 我收集了很多故事。 是關於女孩們月經期間的經歷。 這些故事能激起女孩們 在她們的專屬社交圈裡 談論經期的好奇心和興趣。 這就是我們所要的。 我們希望激起女性的好奇心 並讓她們有學習的動機。 我們想用這些故事 來教女孩們認識月經。
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.
因此我們著手畫漫畫, 漫畫角色會敘述這些故事 並用有趣且引人入勝的方式 教導關於月經的知識。 為了代表女孩在青春期的不同階段, 我們創造了三個角色。 還沒來初經的女孩彬琪, 在散文朗讀時來月經的女孩吉雅 以及穩定來月經的女孩米拉。 另外還有第四個角色毗拉蒂蒂。 藉著蒂蒂,女孩們學到成長中 不同方面的知識 以及經期衛生知識。
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.
書本繪製期間,我們相當留心 漫畫中沒有出現任何會引起反感 和文化敏感的圖像。 初試水溫時,我們發現 女孩們都愛死了這本書。 她們讀得很開心 並學到越來越多關於 自身月經的知識。 家長和師長們在使用此書 來談月經一事時,都感到自在, 有時候連男生都想讀這本書。
(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.
這本漫畫書有助製造一個 不再將月經視為忌諱的環境。 很多志工用這本書來教導女孩 並在印度五個不同省份 開設教導經期意識的工作坊。 一位志工用這本書來教育年輕女僧 並將書帶到拉達克的修道院去。
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 --
我們最終將書名訂為「經期百科」 並在去年九月上市。 至今, 有超過四千名女孩因此書受教
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you.
謝謝你們。
(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.
分別在印度和十個不同國家。 我們不斷將此書翻譯為其他語言 並與當地機關合作 好提高此書在其他國家的知名度。
15 schools in different parts of India have made this book a part of their school curriculum to teach girls about menstruation.
十五個在印度不同地方的學校 已經將此書列入學校課程中 用以教導女性月經的知識。
(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.
我對志工、個人、家長 師長、校長 能夠團結一心感到不可思議, 他們將月經意識帶到自己的社群中, 確保女孩們在對的年紀受教 並協助破除經期忌諱。
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 --
我夢想在未來, 女性月經不再是詛咒, 不再是疾病, 而是女性生命中值得欣喜的改變。 我想--
(Applause)
(掌聲)
And I would like to end this with a small request to all the parents here.
我想用一個 對在座家長的小小請求來結束演講。
Dear parents, if you would be ashamed of periods, your daughters would be, too. So please be period positive.
親愛的家長們, 如果你們對月經感到羞恥, 你們的女兒們同樣也會如此, 所以請積極面對月經。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Thank you.
謝謝你們。
(Applause)
(掌聲)