How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Women's Menstrual Health in India

By Tanvi Kapoor

MA New Media, School of Media & Communication, University of Leeds

The horrifying first wave of COVID-19 began in India in March 2020, and it quickly made global news headlines.  Many people died as the wave spread at a rate no one could have predicted, wreaking havoc on the already fragile healthcare system. As months progressed, essential healthcare services, such as those for women's health, were severely impacted in addition to the tragedy of an unfamiliar disease outbreak.  

In India, menstrual health is more than a health issue, it is a persistent social one. Many girls, women and transmen from vulnerable communities lack access to sanitary products and proper sanitation. While all communities experienced the core impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, girls, women and transmen have borne a disproportionate amount of the secondary effects. Countrywide lockdowns caused by school closings, job losses, a lack of safe spaces and basic services, increased domestic caregiving duties, and limited mobility for women and girls. Due to this, many of them were subjected to greater rates of gender-based violence. 

Several months into the pandemic, my colleague Ramsha Saeed and I, in our capacities as students at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, planned to find out how the triple chain of bondage- gender, violence and healthcare disparities effect those bleeding in the pandemic. We reached out to Shakti Shalini, an NGO that works with communities to prevent gender-based violence and supports the survivors by providing them shelter, legal support, financial training and companionship. Shakti Shalini has impacted the lives of many survivors of gender-based violence and has pivoted to address the impact that the pandemic has had on folks who bleed and menstrual equity. 

During their menstrual hygiene awareness campaign, in collaboration with Project Baala, for the women living in their Delhi shelter home. We interviewed Ms. Shabiha, the community outreach coordinator at Shakti Shalini, who stressed on the fear of the fast-spreading disease, which has been combined with the lack of access to period products and awareness, and in turn intensified the already existing menstrual hygiene problems among the socioeconomically challenged women. 

Hardships for women extend beyond managing periods under lockdown, says Ms. Dolly, Manager Response Mechanisms at Shakti Shalini. As Dolly’s experience illustrates, for many women not having a safe space during the pandemic prevented them from openly purchasing, using or even talking about sanitary products. India's instability and unavailability of safe spaces for women make these items even more out of the reach of vulnerable communities.  

Our interaction with the members of Shakti Shalini made it clear that the effects of the pandemic are gendered, with women bearing the brunt of the high unemployment, added household obligations, childcare, and deteriorating mental health. Although the pandemic has made it worse for those living in period poverty, it is by no means a new public health issue. What position does menstrual health hold in politics? Menstrual health has long been a neglected area of public health concern, which is not surprising given the dearth of women in policy and decision-making areas. In a 2020 survey by Menstrual Health Alliance India (MHAI) reported that 84% of the women who responded to the study believed that sanitary pads were either difficult to get or unavailable. As a result, some turned to outdated techniques such utilising rags made of cloth, leaves, or ash, which seriously endangered their reproductive health.