Menstrual exile refers to a range of discriminatory practices that impact the lives of many women and girls across South Asia today. Due to local traditions and stigmas, women and girls are discriminated against during their menstruation period. They are excluded from their communities, including their own homes, schools and workplaces.
The effects of menstrual exile are far-reaching, obstructing women and girls’ access to education, healthcare, community, and even the safety of their own homes. Chhaupadi is a severe and dangerous form of menstrual exile that is still prevalent across many poor, rural communities in Nepal, affecting the lives and opportunities of the women and girls who live there.
In this blog post, we’ll unpack what Chhaupadi is, its dangers, how it impacts Nepali women and girls’ lives, and the work our partners and we are doing to bring about change at a community level in Nepal.
What is Chhaupadi?
In Nepal, the Chhaupadi tradition, also referred to as Chhaupadi Pratha in Nepali, is an extreme form of menstrual exile that endangers the lives of women and girls.
The Chhaupadi Pratha custom comes from traditional misconceptions that women are ‘impure’ or ‘unclean’ during their menstruation period and after childbirth. Many communities still believe that women should be isolated from their families during their periods to protect their families from misfortune and ill health. These outdated beliefs create feelings of shame and guilt for these women and girls, severely affecting their self-confidence and mental health. Girls are left with the message that their bodies are fundamentally impure and that they don’t belong in their schools, homes, or as part of their communities.
On top of the emotional and mental damage of Chhaupadi Pratha in Nepal, women and girls are commonly forced into physical isolation – exiled into dangerous Chhaupadi huts for the duration of their period, often without access to adequate sanitary products, food, or bedding. They are banished from their homes and forced to live alone in remote cattle sheds or huts built specifically for these isolation periods.
In Nepal, Chhaupadi customs meant that women and girls
who are on their periods are routinely excluded from:
- Their homes
- Their schools
- Temples
- Public places
- Contact with men
- Contact with animals
- Eating certain foods
The Dangers of Chhaupadi Huts
A Chhaupadi hut might be a stable, a cattle shed or a small, basic, isolated mud hut or shack. They are often poorly built, cold, and far from communal areas and homes. Because women and girls are considered unclean and impure during their menstruation period, they are robbed of access to home comforts, including basic hygiene facilities, clean water, certain foods, public areas, contact with men or animals, and they are not allowed to attend school while they are menstruating.
When women and girls are locked out of their homes and exiled to Chhaupadi huts, they are exposed to dangers, with an increased risk of contracting infection, illness, and disease – hypothermia and respiratory illnesses are common. The likelihood of experiencing rape, physical attack, and the threat of animal attacks is also far higher – the last reported Chhaupadi-related death was as recent as August 2023, when a Nepali teenage girl was bitten by a snake while being forced to stay in a Chhaupadi hut.
The Effects of Chhaupadi on Girls’ Education and Mental Health
Chhaupadi is an inhumane, degrading and dangerous tradition, exiling women from their homes and communities. Chhaupadi not only endangers individual lives but does serious damage to the well-being of Nepali women and girls and their wider communities, presenting significant barriers to education, personal growth, social inclusion and opportunity, as well as building divisions between families and strengthening already widespread gender inequality.
Chhaupadi is a centuries-old tradition, meaning it is deep-rooted in Nepali culture and is difficult to address. Discussion around periods and education about menstrual health and hygiene are often shrouded in taboo, resulting in secrecy, fear and shame. Without the opportunity for open discussion about menstruation and the fear of menstrual exile and banishment to Chhaupadi huts, many girls routinely lie to their families about their periods so they can still go to school.
Many schools lack the resources, such as adequate handwashing facilities and sanitary supplies, meaning that many girls are forced to use inadequate sanitary materials and practices, which leads to infection. Many of the bathrooms are poorly maintained, sometimes with open-topped toilets. Combined with bullying, embarrassment and shame, many girls regularly miss lessons or drop out of education altogether. Without regular school attendance, many female students fall behind and cannot socialise, learn, and develop their skills, missing opportunities to improve their futures.
For many Nepali women and girls affected by Chhaupadi traditions and menstrual exile practices, the mental toll of bullying, exclusion, isolation and shame also have a huge impact on their mental health, pushing further divides between male and female family members, the wider community, and devastating their personal sense of self-worth.
Working to End Menstrual Exile and Chhaupadi in Nepal
Chhaupadi has been illegal in Nepal since 2005, but the custom is still routinely practised in some areas, especially poorer, rural parts of Nepal. Having worked closely with local organisations and communities across South Asia for decades, we understand that it takes more than outlawing such an ingrained and long-standing cultural practice of menstrual exile to bring about effective, sustainable change.
That’s why we always take a community-led approach, working with organisations already established in local areas. By collaborating and pooling knowledge and resources, we can engage with community leaders, religious figures, local authorities, and traditional healers to challenge entrenched cultural norms and beliefs around gender and menstrual health. Ensuring that men and boys are engaged in the conversation is vital, too, to be able to change attitudes and move towards gender equality. It takes an entire community to bring about change and end menstrual exile customs like Chhaupadi.
One of our Karuna-supported projects, the Green Tara’ Dignity For Women’ Chhaupadi Nepal Project, is working towards safer menstruation instead of stigmatisation for women and girls across 36 villages in rural Nepal.
Its objectives are to enable 4000 Nepali women and girls to make well-informed decisions about their own menstrual health and sanitary practices in safe, supportive environments via a holistic approach.
The main activities of the project include:
- Girls are provided with menstrual hygiene kits and trained about safe, hygienic menstruation practices.
- Teachers are also trained, and education around menstrual health is integrated into school curriculums.
- Village community meetings are held to host supportive discussions about women’s health issues.
- Women and mothers are encouraged to attend regular medical checkups and learn how to recognise medical problems themselves.
- Birthing centres and health posts are supplied with improved equipment and supplies.
- Traditional local healers and other promoters of Chhaupadi are provided with information about safer, more informed practices.
By working with entire communities, beyond just the female members, including local leaders and boys and men, to challenge traditional belief systems, change attitudes and spread awareness, stigmas and harmful traditions like Chhaupadi can be changed and phased out over time.
Engaging teachers and ensuring education is at the forefront of the change-making, meaning that girls experiencing menstrual exile and related stigmas are less likely to miss out on opportunities and drop out of school, too.
The Green Tara project has had a marked impact on the communities it has worked with. It has improved the lives of women and girls across rural Nepal who have empowered themselves with safer menstruation practices and engagement in their communities and schools. Between 2022 and 2023, 10,961 women and girls benefitted directly from the project, and 3530 girls were supported to remain in education.
Menstrual exile practices, including Chhaupadi in Nepal, can be stopped. But it will take a village to do so. This is why a holistic, community-led approach is so important.
Our work and that of our partner organisations in rural Nepal means we can ensure thousands more girls remain in school, maintain their self-confidence, and are supported and safe in their communities.
Ending menstrual exile and Chhaupadi is possible, but only with your donation.
For just £15,000, we can reach 20,000 people in 36 villages in Nepal each year.
Make a donation today, and together, we can end menstrual exile. Period.
