'Need to break culture of silence around menstruation'
Kolkata May 29: There is a need to break the culture of silence around menstruation as the start of the cycle actually empowers women as they know they now have the power to procreate, speakers said at a awareness campaign here on Monday.
The campaign 'Let us talk about Periods', organised by the UNICEF on the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day, brought together bureaucrats, women's rights activists and experts in a bid to sensitize women as well as men about the natural process considered a taboo in our country.
"It is usually termed a women's issue and male members of the family, of the community, even male members of the administration. they usually don't talk about this subject. But until and unless it is on an even platform where both male and female members can talk openly on these issues probably the culture of silence will never be broken," said Dibyendu Sarkar, Additional Secretary, Department of Panchayat and rural development.
There is a culture of silence on this particular issue even among the women. People usually feel shy about the positive aspects of periods as well the complications arising out of periods. This results in different unhygienic practices, contaminations and infections.
"UNICEF recognises that menstrual hygiene is fundamental to the dignity and well-being of women and girls and an important part of the basic hygiene, sanitation, and reproductive health services to which every woman and girl has a right, said Chief of UNICEF Office for West Bengal Mohammad Mohiuddin,.
There are several myths in our society surrounding periods. It is a very common practice to link periods with being unwell, but it is a normal biological process.
"Menstruation is not a disease. Even I was told that if you have periods when you are in school and you are not prepared for it, tell your teacher that 'shorir-khaarap hoyeche'(I am unwell). But it is not, it is like any other day, except some women might feel uncomfortable," said Ananya Chakraborti, West Bengal Commission for protection of Child Rights.
According to her, menstruation empowers a woman.
"When we start to menstruate we are empowered. We know that we have the power in us to procreate, we are now women and we know our full worth and that is what needs to be celebrated," added Chakraborti.
Till date a woman cannot buy a packet of sanitary napkin from a chemist's shop comfortably or say has to speak a little low and the packet is wrapped with paper. If a girl says it out loud she will attract undue attention so mostly they prefer to wait.
"Why should I wait half an hour in the pharmacy making sure I don't unruffle the feathers of whoever comes in the pharmacy and make sure I get my privacy which is not even required. This is something that all girls go through most of their lives, said Choten Lama, IAS, Secretary Panchayat and Rural Development Department.
"The taboos on menstruation limits a nation as a whole, you are just pulling back an entire gender by saying that during these five days society stops you and approves of not contributing positively fully of what you can," she added.
The discussion on World Menstrual Hygiene Day witnessed many male participants. A young boy,Sobhan Mukherjee, Kolkata's very own 'Padman' was present. He has been installing indigenous sanitary pad-dispensing carton boxes in public toilets across the city to help the women during periods.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
