Chaupadi: the affliction of menses in Nepal
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One of the most difficult issues I encountered during my time as a youth volunteer with Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO; http://www. vsointernational.org) in Nepal was the treatment of menstruating women. Perhaps it was because it affectedme directly, and I was given a rare insight into life as a woman in rural Nepal. Despite being forewarned of the attitudes I would encounter, I was shocked by just how strongly I was touched by them. (See Figs 1 and 2.) In many areas of Nepal, particularly undeveloped mountainous regions, women are considered impure when menstruating. For a week every month these women become untouchable. They must eat their meals separately, make no physical contact with other people or with water sources (I was forbidden to touch the tap), and must sleep with little or no bedding. In some areas, women are expected to sleep outside in a tiny hut called a goth until they are clean again. This custom is called chaupadi, derived from two Hindu words: chau, meaning menstruation, and padi, meaning women. The Nepal Supreme Court banned chaupadi in 2005, but government regulation does not reach remote western regions. During the winter in the mountain villages, temperatures at night drop below freezing. Many women and young girls suffer, and even die, from health problems caused by sleeping in dirty, cold conditions. Exposure, increased vulnerability to wild animals and snakebites, and higher risks of rape are just a few dangers faced by women practicing chaupadi. Exact statistics about the number of women who still observe the tradition, and the deaths caused by it, are unavailable (United Nations [UN], 2011). This is partly because the segregation of these women and girls prevents the involvement of doctors, and partly because of the stigma attached to female gynecological issues. According to a UN report in 2011, within the district of Accham, 95% of women were practicing chaupadi (UN, 2011). There are now awareness programs in place in such areas that aim to educate teenagers and advocate for women’s rights. I found it hard to accept that chaupadi is the way of life for so many women in Nepal. Young girls are expected to fulfil their natural role as a mother, yet the very bodily function that allows this miracle of motherhood is condemned as shameful and dirty. This seemed wildly unfair and contradictory to me. I was upset that it was so casually accepted as part of village life. I can now see exactly why the lowly social status of women is perpetuated, when daughters grow up to be ashamed of their own nature. Girls practicing chaupadi will stop attending school every month during this time of personal isolation, therefore sustaining the
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In some contexts, cultural practices restrict access to water or comfortable environments to manage vaginal bleeding, such as in Nepal where menstruating and postpartum girls and women are confined to sleeping in a cowshed or hut.
“In some contexts, there may be cultural practices restricting access to water or comfortable environments to manage vaginal bleeding, such as in Nepal where menstruating and postpartum girls and women are confined to sleeping in a cowshed or hut.39”
From Beyond menstrual hygiene: addressing vaginal bleeding throughout the life course in low and middle-income countries (2017) · cites this paper as [39]
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- United Nations [UN] Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office Chaupadi in the far-west Field Bulletin 2011 Available from: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Water/ContributionsStigma/others/field_bulletin_-_issue1_april_2011_-_chaupadi_in_far-west.pdf
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- Authors
- Robinson, H.
- Corresponding author
- Robinson, Hannah
- Venue
- International Journal of Women’s Dermatology
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 193-194
- ISSN
- 2352-6475 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5419759
- OpenAlex
- W2200886911
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Women’s Dermatology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Demography › Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nepal
- Keywords
- menstrual taboos, menstruating women, women's purity, social stigma, women's health, women's rights, gender inequality, Nepal, rural mountain villages, women's status
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