In commemoration of Women’s History Month, Amaavasya conducted an interactive art session with the local women from the village next to our school to create a short film centred around Womanhood. The answers that we got were very genuine and heartwarming. These answers were accompanied by some advice from our Amaavasya women to women all over the world.
Amaavasya is a Triveni that focuses on some of the complex issues related to women’s health, specifically in relation to menstruation and the stigmas and taboos attached to it. We have engaged with women in the local villages for the past few years through on-campus and off-campus sessions. Gaining the local women’s perspective on how women’s health is perceived and how womanhood and femininity are recognised in their communities is key to building a genuine relationship with them. Amaavasya also addresses menstruation-related issues on campus through occasional sessions for the school community, ensuring the availability of pads in the washroom and informing them about eco-friendly menstrual alternatives.
This Triveni relies on careful communication and collaborative work since we cover sensitive topics that have different cultural and religious implications — for example, the perception of femininity and womanhood, the stigmatisation of menstruation, and the empowerment of women in patriarchal settings.
