E-Paper
IIM-L’s social awareness campaign on menstrual hygiene
LUCKNOW Students of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L) have launched a nationwide campaign titled ‘No Stains November’ to make people aware of
LUCKNOW Students of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L) have launched a nationwide campaign titled ‘No Stains November’ to make people aware of menstruation related issues and end the stigma attached to it.
“We want people to talk on menstrual hygiene issue and be comfortable with it,” Himshikha, a student of IIM-L.
“If we want to remove the stigma, we have to talk about it. We are encouraging both the genders to talk on this,” said Ganesh Budi, another student.
The campaign, launched on November 1, will continue till the first week of December. It was conceptualised by students under the guidance of IIM-L faculty members in collaboration with ‘Goonj’ (an NGO present in 23 states and consistently working on sustainable innovation for two decades).
According to IIM-L students, 210 volunteers from 40 colleges have joined the campaign within 15 days of launch and of these, 40 are IIM-L students.
To spread awareness, the campaign has collaborated with more than 60 colleges and schools across India and also with Toast Masters Club and five other student-run bodies in IIM-L.
Ten events have been organized including a strategy competition on safe disposal of sanitary pads, debate competition, poster-making and article-writing competitions. These are running in both online & offline channels and have received tremendous response. Till now, more than 1,000 registrations have been received for these events.
The campaign has conducted more than 150 workshops on menstrual safety and hygiene across India.
Group activities have been organised in primary schools in UP while a workshop is scheduled at Kendriya Vidyalay Air Force station, Memaura in December. The campaign is trying to increase the outreach by collaborating with chief development officer, Lucknow and other schools and colleges.
The ‘No Stains November’ campaign aims to provide a national platform to all genders and sensitise them about the importance of the issue of menstrual hygiene, said Himshikha.
The objective is to give voice to a topic which has been always hushed and educate the masses about how the lack of information about menstrual safety and hygiene affects the lives of women across the country.
The teaching points of the campaign are regarding personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene, practices around cloth, taboos, etc.
