http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/10/17/449176709/horrible-things-happen-to-nepali-girls-when-they-menstruate-15girls
In Nepal, it is taboo for girls who are menstruating to enter homes (often including their own) or to touch other people. The practice was outlawed in 2005, but many rural areas still participate in these rituals that require menstruating females to sleep outside, increasing the risks of sexual assault. A young Nepalese girl named Prakriti is tackling the taboo with a novel where menstruation gives females super powers. And one day she hopes to be elected Prime Minister, where she can use her super powers for good….to break the taboo.
Certainly this seems strange to our Western culture, but what about cultural relativism? In class we’ve discussed genital mutilation as being “across the line” but what about this? Is this a violation of human rights or a cultural difference?