Undertaken as part of the Aval project by Dhagam Foundation, the team has been meeting youngsters — boys and girls, men and women — in the age group between 15 and 25 years, for the last few months.

Govind Murugan, convenor of the foundation working alongside 150 volunteers all aged 25 and below, aims to break myths and create awareness about menstrual hygiene, in the city across institutions and communities. He says, “Though unthinkable, some of the beliefs they hear from their audiences, reinstates the fact that empowering women is still a long way to go.” 

The volunteers address perspectives of the other gender and have covered 3,000 people so far, all in the city. He says, “We assume such beliefs are restricted to rural parts, but that’s not true. Even in Chennai city, the irrational beliefs are quite rampant. The other day, a student told us she couldn’t participate in her father’s funeral, as she had her periods.” 

Govind explains that most often, boys shy away when asked about their understanding of the subject. “And among girls and young women, we see they have already built a wall around the topic in their minds. We meet them, address the topic in all perspectives — health and cultural — explaining that it is part of their existence. There is nothing unusual or phenomenal about it,” he says. 

Approaching institutions and availing permission from authorities can be daunting, he points out. “They laugh at us, when we tell them we want to address men or a group of men want to talk to students about periods. In some places, we are cut short, diplomatically, during the sessions,” he says.

The group has restricted the target group to 25 years, as the team of volunteers are relatively young. “We tried approaching women and men in older age groups and we got a lukewarm response. They think, as youngsters, we neither have the wisdom nor the experience to talk about it,” adds Govind.