In Achham District in western Nepal, on February 16, 14-year-old Uttara Saud has been seen sitting in a Chaupadi shed because the women that are menstruating in some areas of Nepal are expected that during this time they isolate themselves.
The women that follow this tradition spend this period of time sleeping in sheds with no protection. They are not allowed to use public water, visit their home, and temples, or touch other people and these are stated in a public field bulletin published by the United Nations.
A woman named Suntali Devi Saud that follows this tradition washes her clothes in the Achham District of western Nepal. They are not allowed to drink regular water from public sources.
Following this tradition, there have been reported women that have lost their life due to diseases, animal attacks, assaults, or fires because they used to stay in places with no ventilation.
Rupa Chand Shah, 32, a school teacher who does not like to follow this tradition teaches an awareness lesson against the practice in schools. The 14-year-old Uttara Saud leaves her parents’ house every month due to this tradition of spending the nights alone in a shed with no door or window.
Why this tradition? It is because people there believe that menstruating women are unclean. Want more? They are thought to bring misfortune to their communities.
They leave the house unprotected in these sheds we talked about with no doors or windows in extreme temperatures and animal exposures.
If we look back at the article we will see that in these sheds are young girls exposed to danger. We don’t know what you guys think about this tradition but it is dangerous to us.
A lot of photographers have traveled to this country to photograph this “tradition”. Please share your opinion with us and raise awareness to help these young girls from this tradition.