Jyoti pushes to create period-related awareness

Menstruation or period is normal vaginal bleeding that a woman or adolescent goes through each month. But, here in Bangladesh women and adolescents are feeling never-ending shame and embarrassment about this normal and natural process. The lack of awareness, necessary information accessibility, and bits of advice also linger various obstacles in the physical and mental development of women including reproductive health for ages.

In this condition, Jyoti has been working to uproot the social stigma, unconsciousness, and stagnation of being silent about the period since 2020. Joyti has recently distributed 400 sanitary napkins packets among Bom, Khumi, and Murang tribal girls in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Jyoti also set up a Sanitary Napkin Vending Machine at Riyadul Muslimat Shishu Shikkhaloy under Adabar in Dhaka so that 100 adolescents could get free napkins for last year.

Jyoti initiates various online activities to raise awareness about the period. They arranged period blog writing competitions regularly so that women feel interested in debating on period. Besides, to bring the women and teenagers under a single roof a Facebook group and page (www.facebook.com/jyoticommunity) have been created where anyone can ask for advice on her period-related queries.

And, the expert team of Jyoti provided counseling with the required solution. Besides, Jyoti shares various information and suggestions about the period through various social media at regular intervals, which beliefs are helping to create social awareness about the period. Joyti has so far reached 15,000 people.

Rezwan Ahamed Noor Shabbin has been working on creating social awareness on period and how teenagers and women get sanitary napkins easily through Jyoti (www.jyoti.com.bd). Worked for the country's top mobile company for 15 long years and a father of two daughters, Rezwan initiated the Jyoti project to work for the monthly healthcare management for girls. His company Vertical Innovations Limited is working on it and he doesn't hesitate to introduce himself as Padman.

Speaking on Jyoti's activities and period-related various problems and challenges in Bangladesh, he said, "Women's period is not a taboo rather a normal health process. Like other basic human rights, this is also a basic right of a woman to receive proper health advice and supplies during her period. We are working to ensure this right of women. Jyoti is continuously working to raise period-related awareness and knowledge among adolescents and women in the country. Besides, Jyoti is also working to uproot the prejudices that prevail in our society about the period."