VAM Tackling the taboo around menstruation through a comic book - 'Menstrupedia' -

Tackling the taboo around menstruation through a comic book – ‘Menstrupedia’

Considering the taboo around talks relating to menstruation in India, a husband-wife duo have come up with an innovative way to spread awareness about the issue that is so crucial yet so ignored by parents while guiding their daughters about puberty.

Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul have taken nearly two years to convert their digital initiative on educating girls on the ‘forbidden’ topic to come up with a comic book on the same – Menstrupedia. “In our year long research that led to the formation of Menstrupedia we found out that due to lack of proper educational materials on menstruation and due to the prevailing culture of silence around the subject, parents and teachers were finding it hard to educate young girls about menstruation at the right time. To tackle that, we wanted to create an educational tool that could help young girls learn about menstruation all on their own and that way make the job easier for parents and teachers,” expounds Tuhin.

The research also provided an opportunity to collect several anecdotes about menstruation which they are using to teach. The main reason to go print was because of lack of availability of digital devices to everyone; and comic is a very engaging medium of communication as well. A prototype was also created to test the medium and the positive response encouraged them to move ahead with the idea.

Since the A3 spreadsheet comic had visuals accompanying the facts, it helped parents and teachers overcome their hesitation and explain better. “Through various NGOs and individuals, the prototype was used to educate more than 500 girls about periods. And it was found that even boys were interested in reading the book,” Tuhin says.

Targetted at kids aged 9-13, the comic book revolves around the lives of 3 young girls Pinki, Mira, Jiya and Priya, who is a young doctor educating these inquisitive minds. Short incidents from the past are narrated by them which are based on real life stories from research. Each story is followed by a learning point. The girls learn about growing up, nutrition, physiology of menstruation, tracking menstrual cycle and menstrual hygiene management.

Aditi and Tuhin are the faces behind authoring and illustrating the comic, while Rajat Mittal is the editor and production manager, Anam Mittra and Ranjit Singh are the editors and Dr Mahadeo Bhide is the medical consultant.

The two year old website receives nearly 1 lakh visitors on a monthly basis. The site and the comic are backed by book sales, ads on the website and sponsorship from Whisper (P&G). The book production investment came out of their own savings and an added Rs 4.5 lakh through crowdfunding.

“I was oblivious about the inconvenience due to menstruation and the various beliefs and customs around it. Aditi followed many myths and restrictive customs around menstruation until she started her work on Menstrupedia,” highlights Tuhin.

The 88 page comic is currently only in print format and work is in progress to make it available on digital as well. About 1000 books have been sold out in three months in the first batch allowing them to break even in the time span. 23 copies have been shipped to Uruguay, 30 to Philippines and 10 to the US with a few also in UK and Australia. Tuhin says the next step is to make the comic book available locally in other countries. One copy also lies with the National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

In India, Menstrupedia is looking at partnering with schools and NGOs to make it available to young girls in India. The first edition came out in English while the second edition will release in February in Hindi as well. A Nepali version of 1000 copies will also be coming out in 2015.

Recently, a comic called Priya’s Shakti came out that discussed rape. While Tuhin is happy that the medium of comic is being used to address social issues, he would have preferred that the story did not focus so much on Hindu gods and goddesses. “That way it is alienating followers of other religion. Also I would have loved to see the protagonist fight back all on her own or may be with the help of other women/men instead of relying on a divine intervention; that would have made the protagonist come out stronger,” he ends.

Follow us on Google News
VFX

SLOT GACOR adalah platform situs judi online Slot Gacor terpercaya 2025 dengan pilihan game gacor paling lengkap, winrate tertinggi, dan bonus new member terbesar. Daftar sekarang & raih jackpot hari ini.

boscuan303 merupakan salah satu penyedia web game online terbaik dan terpercaya gampang menang saat ini. dengan banyak pola gacor yang hadi membantu kemenangan member setia.

Slot4d adalah situs slot gacor terpercaya saat ini yang berkolaborasi engan slot777 gacor Indonesia deposit dana terbaik hari ini yang dimana memberikan sensasi permainan yang berbeda dengan game slot lain nya. setiap member yang bergabung di sini berhak mendapatkan bonus dari setiap to yang di mainkan. dan berhak mendapatkan banyak hadiah menarik di setiap hari.

Selamat datang di BOSCUAN303, tempat terbaik bagi Anda yang mencari pengalaman bermain slot online yang aman, nyaman, dan penuh peluang besar! Sebagai situs bandar slot online resmi terbesar di Indonesia, BOSCUAN303 siap memberikan layanan terbaik untuk semua pemain, dari pemula hingga profesional. Yuk, daftar sekarang dan nikmati sensasi bermain slot dengan cara yang menyenangkan dan menguntungkan!

BOSCUAN303 adalah situs slot deposit Dana dengan akses server resmi terpercaya dan pasti menang setiap hari yang dapat menawarkan kemenangan hari ini hanya dengan modal yang minim , Dengan fitur terbaik diberikan oleh boscuan303 bet yang mana permainan yang di sediakan adalah tipe permainan terbaik yang memberikan pola dan rtp gacor terbaik saat ini dengan persentase hingga 99% Dan juga selalu memberikan kejutan maxwin setiap harinya , gacor slot adalah permainan terbaik saat ini paling dicari dan juga digemari oleh para pencinta slot deposit dana karena slot ini adalah tipe slot terbaik & paling sering memberikan maxwin apalagi di BOSCUAN303.

SLOT4D adalah link login situs slot777 deposit dana tergacor saat hari ini yang akan membuat semua member setia kita pasti maxwin, slot4d kini hadir memberikan hadiah yang menarik dan proses wd yang sangat cepat kilat.

BOSCUAN303 merupakan link daftar situs slot777 gacor dengan metode deposit dana tanpa to terbaik saat ini yang dimana menyediakan berbagai game pilihan terbaik dari pg soft dan pargamatic play yang sangat terupdate saat ini.

boscuan303

boscuan303

boscuan303

boscuan303

boscuan303

Boscuan303

Mpo Slot Slot gacor resmi hari ini! Slot RTP tinggi, gampang maxwin, dan deposit cuma 5 ribu. Coba sekarang dan rasakan sensasi cuan instan auto beli pajero sekarang juga!

slot gacor

Terpercaya sejak lama, SLOT4D hadir untuk semua pecinta slot di Indonesia.

slot gacor