A campaign on Menstrual Hygiene Management

A campaign on menstrual hygiene management of adolescent girls living in the rural areas of Delhi.

1. Mahavaari Ki Jaankari Badlegi Duniya Saari By- Tulika Singh, Meenakshi, Dimple, and Neha A Campaign on Menstrual Hygiene

2. CONTENTS 1 Title 2 Title 4 Title 1 2 3 4 5 RATIONALE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY STRATEGIES ADOPTED PLANNED ACTIVITIES MEDIA USED 6 7 SOCIO ECOLOGICAL MODEL 8 EXPECTED OUTCOMES 6 SOCIO ECOLOGICAL MODEL MODIFICATION IN BEHAVIOUR REQUIRED

3. RATIONALE Menstrual hygiene rights are human rights, as the universal declaration of human rights states in its preamble that all human beings should be recognized for their inherent dignity. Without good menstrual hygiene management practices this is impossible for girls. Menstrual hygiene rights are connected to the right to non-discrimination, to health and healthy environment, education and work. The right to health is also at risk, as women using unclean cloths without the ability to wash are at greater risk of developing infections.

4. FORMATIVE RESEARCH As much as 82 of percent women in India still do not know what a sanitary napkin is or what it is used for. Only 18% women know how to use a sanitary napkin. Women wear a sanitary napkin for 12-14 hours a day, making them prone to bacterial infection. A single woman can generate up to 125 kilograms of non-biodegradable waste during her menstrual years.

5. SBCC APPROACHES: Social Mobilization- Community mobilization increases the capacity of a community to address its own needs while generating local solutions to problems. Here it will help the campaign by mobilizing girls and their care givers to deal with the issue. Social media Social media can influence adolescents and youth and reach out to larger audiences. It can promote behavior change .

6. SBCC APPROACHES: Interpersonal Communication : It is the tailored exchange or sharing of information, thoughts, ideas and feelings between two or more people to address behavioral determinants of health. It is influenced by attitudes, values, social norms and the individuals’ immediate environment. Above are the reasons that it is one of the most important approach of the campaign, because it will increase comfort level and dialogue exchange regarding menstrual hygiene management between girls and caregivers. Caregivers will be able to sympathize with their girls.

7. THEORY OF CHANGE Social learning theory  is a theory of learning process and social behavior which proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. Individuals that are observed are called models. In society, children are surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within their peer group and teachers at school. These models provide examples of behavior to observe and imitate.

8. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Prime focus of this campaign is to change the behavior of girls regarding Menstrual Hygiene practices by guiding them and as well as their caregivers becasuse childrens observe their models and imitate their actions. A survey will be conduted to identify the girls who use sanitary pads, then these girls will be presented as role models to the adolescent girls. These girls will have one to one conversation with the adolescent girls to mativate them to use sanitary pads and change their behaviour regarding he same.

9. STAGES OF CHANGE: Generally, in rural communities girls and women do not want to use sanitary pads because of various socio economc factors. These women and girls know about the problems regarding to poor menstrual hygiene, but has not yet made a decision to use sanitary pads. Through this campaign, we are trying to aware, motivate them and change their behaviour towards sanitary pads by adopting various strategies on personal level. In assocition with Menstrual Hygiene Scheme, free pads will be distributed to the girls and gradually it will be inculcated in their behaviour and soon they will adopt this good menstrual hygiene practice. After exercising these good menstrual hygiene practices, they will realise how beneficial it is for their health. So, they will continue to use the sanitary pads as pads will be distributed to them evvery month. This will lead to change in their behaviour regarding sanitary pads.

10. SOCIO ECOLOGICAL MODEL Target group-community Intervention-PSA to generate about scheme Target group – adolescent girls Intervention- knowledge building via Tiktok and animated videos Target group-caregivers (mothers and fathers) Intervention-monthly meetings / providing information via comics Target group-ASHA workers Intervention- Training of ASHA on menstrual hygiene Target group-policy makers

11. CAMPAIGN STRATEGY Title: Mahavaari Ki Jaankari Badlegi Duniya Saari Topic: Menstrual Hygiene Target Group: Adolescent girls age between 9-18 years belonging to rural areas, and their caregivers.

12. Target group Adolescent girls (primary target group) Caregivers (mothers and fathers ) Secondary target group Rationale Information will be provide to the girls about the importance of usage of sanitary napkin then they can in turn spread this amongst their peer groups in the family. The caregivers of the adolescent girls will also learn about the safe menstrual practices through the campaign. According to social learning theory, girls will follow and imitate what their parents practice, hence targeting the change in behavior through the usage of sanitary napkins on parents will bring influence and practice of girls. TARGET GROUP

13. OBJECTIVE: - To increase awareness among adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene, and empower girls for greater socialization. -To increase use of sanitary napkin by adolescent girls in rural areas and ensure safe disposal of sanitary napkins. GOAL: The goal of this campaign is to increase the awareness about adoption of safe Menstrual Hygiene Management practices among 9-16 years old girls.

14. STRATEGIES ADOPTED Awareness: ASHA workers will provide knoweledge about Menstrual Hygiene to adolescent girls through monthly meetings. - Peer educators (Saheli) will be selected from the trained adolescent girls on the basis of their performance in previous sessions. - D emonstration will provide of how to use and dispose sanitary napkins through animated video and comic in order to. Affordability, Accessibility and Availability: Low cost and high quality sanitary napkins will be provided to the adolescent girls in association with t h e A S H A w o r k e r s u n d e r t h e M e n s t r a l H y g i e n e s c h e m e .

15. ABOUT THE SCHEME: Under the MENSTRUAL HYGIENE SCHEME(MHS) girls will be motivated to use sanitary napkins in their pe ri ods, a pack of six sanitary napkins called “Freedays” are provided to rural adolescent girls for Rs. 6. The ASHA workers distribute s the sanitary napkins to the girls in the community and they will convene monthly meetings at the Aanganwadi Centres or other such platforms for adolescent girls to focus on issue of menstrual hygiene management.

16. Target group Intervention Rationale Expected outcomes Adolescent girls A) Tik tok videos B) Animated videos Tiktok videos will be shared with the adolescent girls. Tiktok is a fun entertainment method in which we can teach about the various menstrual hygiene practices to the community people because mostly adolescent girls uses the social media and this tiktok can be use in an effective way to teach the girls about menstruation. Safar is an animated movie which we are using to educate adolescent girls about mensuration and hygiene practices they should maintain after menarche in a fun and creative way. This movie explains about menstruation, it’s importance, how to use a sanitary napkins and why you should never feel ashamed about periods. Girls will develop an understanding about Menstrual Hygiene and will be able to perform different practices associated with it. Adolescent girls will learn about the do’s and dont's of menstrual hygiene management. TOOLS AND METHODS USED

17. Target group Intervention Rationale Expected outcomes Caregivers PSA PSA is a method to educate caregivers about the importance of using sanitary napkins over other alternatives and make them aware of the scheme to access low cost high quality sanitary napkins Caregivers and the community will become aware of the importance of usage of sanitary napkins over other alternatives and will get to know about the scheme to access low cost sanitary napkins Adolescent girls and care givers Monthly meetings Comic B)Demonstration A comic is designed to sensitize girls regarding sanitary pad and steps to use it, in a form of story. Also, this comic will be distributed to the girls as take away, so that they could remember the steps. Demonstration will be given to girls on how to use a sanitary napkin and its disposal in an environmental friendly way. Caregivers too will become more sensitive about the issue and they will be able to provide right positive information to their girls about the same. Girls will be able to use sanitary napkins and will learn to dispose them in environmental friendly manner.

18. THANK YOU