This article discusses the Chhaupadi pratha a ritual practiced in Nepal. This practice requires any women or girls that are menstruating or have recently had a child to be sent away to another home, found more among the more educated families, or put into a chhaupadi shed or hut where they are to remain for up to eleven days away from family members. These huts are made of either rudimentary stone, grass, or stick, and are also commonly used as cow or goat sheds. These sheds usually have dirt floors, no windows, and sometimes lack water. The use of these shelters become dangerous because the temperatures can reach below freezing in the winter and sweltering hot in the summer. The belief is that menstruation is the punishment of sins fromwomens’ previous lives, and that the shelters are built to keep everyone else away from the “ills” of those who are menstruating.
Even today the people of Nepal believe that women are unclean during their menstruation and this taboo affects those in rural areas the most. Girls who start their menstruation in Nepal can often face “harsh restrictions based on superstitions” such as having to stay away from male members of their family and not being able to cross a bridge, etc. The courts have ordered that this practice be abolished, but this has been largely ineffective.
– It is no surprise that the ruling of the court was pretty ineffective in the society. These traditions run very deep in the ideals of the society, and the court alone can’t be expected to change much. It is through the changing the traditions and beliefs of the people that this tradition will be abolished. Watch the video that is included at the bottom of the article. See how the men honestly believe that women who are menstruating are “contaminating” their houses or could even kill someone if allowed in the village. It is those kinds of beliefs that need to be stopped at the root of the problem.
http://womennewsnetwork.net/2011/03/20/nepal-banishment-ritual-girls/