60% of J&K women still use cloth during menstruation: Study

The lowest percentage of women using sanitary napkins apart from Jammu and Kashmir are from Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, and Madhya Pradesh.

Nearly 60 per cent of women in Jammu and Kashmir still use cloth for menstrual protection due to lack of hygiene awareness and below average facilities.

Experts said that if an unclean cloth is reused, it increases exposure to multiple local infections.

As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), nearly 60 per cent of women in Jammu and Kashmir still use cloth for menstrual protection during periods.

The survery (2019-2021) also reveals that merely 50.5 per cent of women aged between 15-24 use sanitary napkins. The per centage has swelled from 48.8 per cent in NFHS-4 (2015-2016).

According to official data, the lowest percentage of women using sanitary napkins apart from Jammu and Kashmir are from Uttar Pradesh with 69.4 per cent, Assam with 69.1 per cent, Meghalaya with 65 per cent, and Madhya Pradesh with 61 per cent. Andaman and Nicobar Islands has the lowest rate of women preferring cloth, with 8.2 per cent, while Tamil Nadu with 12.7 per cent is at the second place.

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Dr Auqfeen Nisar from Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar said that lack of awareness, and not affordability of sanitary pads, is a major reason for women using cloth as menstrual protection.

“Even women who use sanitary pads don't have knowledge about its advantages. They use it just because it is readily available,” Dr Nisar said, adding that there is a need to conduct awareness sessions in the community for females for the benefits of menstruation hygiene.

“There is a taboo associated with not speaking about menstruation, and it is the primary reason why rural women are not aware of menstrual hygiene,” she added.

A doctor at Lal Ded Maternity Hospital in Srinagar said that studies have shown reproductive tract infections like bacterial vaginosis or urinary tract infections (UTI) could occur, which eventually become pelvic infections due to unhygienic menstrual practices.

“Menstrual hygiene is not prioritised in J&K. This thinking can only change if attempts are made to educate and empower girls on the pros and cons of not maintaining menstrual hygiene. This education can bring a significant change in the following decades if women start to use sanitary pads,” she said.