Menstruation+in+Nepal


 * Nepal **



Nepal is located in the [|Himalayas] and bordered to the north by the [|People's Republic of China], and to the south, east, and west by the [|Republic of India] (via, [|Wikipedia] ). A large portion of the population, especially in the hill region, may identify themselves as both Hindu and Buddhist, which can be attributed to the [|syncretic] nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal (via [|Wikipedia] )


 * Chaupadi **
 * [|Chaupadi] ** is a Hindu tradition in which menstruating women and girls are isolated because they are deemed unclean. The word chaupadi – chau meaning menstruation and padi meaning women – is even used as an insult, directed at both men and women, to imply they are dirty.

In 2003 declared chaupadi as discriminatory as well as a violation of women’s rights by the Nepali Supreme Court. The Court ordered the government to raise awareness about the practice, to take social measures to eliminate the tradition and to enact laws to eradicate ‘chaupadi’. Despite this legislative progress, in many rural areas, the practice is still widely observed (via [|menstrualhygineday.org] ). However in places like in the [|Achham district] located in the northern rural region of Nepal, chaupadi is still very much practiced.

During chaupadi women are forced to sleep in a [|goth] – a mud-walled hut about twice the size of a standard doghouse – or in caves, cowsheds or outbuildings far from their homes.







Commonly thought to have originated as a way to give women rest during their menstruation and a break from hard labour, today the isolation and restrictions remain even though women are required to work in the fields. However, it is not uncommon for women and their infants to die from snakebites and wild-animal attacks. Additionally, due to the high level of vulnerability of being away from the house and local men knowing that there are menstruating women in the goths, it is not unusual for women and girls to be raped while alone and isolated.

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