Like so many 17-year-olds around the world, Sandhya spends her time studying, seeing friends and filming dance videos for TikTok. But for a handful of days every month, she has other things on her mind, things that worry her and distract her from the lessons she’s learning in school – the lessons she hopes will one day propel her into a future as a banker or a nurse.

What if my period comes while I’m at school? When and where will I change my sanitary pad? How many classes will I have to miss this month? To be a young woman in Lahan, a city in south-eastern Nepal, is to be in constant fear of your period and the disruption it will inevitably cause. 

When Sandhya is menstruating, she must follow strict rules: she cannot physically touch men, including her father and brother; she cannot drink cow’s milk (a sacred animal in Hinduism); she cannot set foot in the kitchen or worship room in her own house. “I can’t even touch things my elders are going to use,” she says. “My parents keep food and water separately for me in the house.”

From her very first cycle, Sandhya was made to feel shame around her body. “When I menstruated for the first time, I had to go to another house and stay in a room for seven days,” she says. “I couldn’t touch trees or plants. This is still practised – they say if we touch them during menstruation, they will wither and die. I don’t know if they really would. I haven’t seen any plants dying due to my touch yet.” 

This is all part of a cultural taboo that still holds strong across parts of Nepal and many other countries. But Sandhya is part of a new generation who feels it’s time to move on from “barriers” like these, seeing how much they foster inequality between girls and boys at a crucial stage in their lives.

“I told my mother I don’t think we should follow [these rules] any more,” Sandhya says. “But she said it’s not possible to change them by ourselves when the elders have been practising them for so long. It seems bringing about change is quite difficult, but honestly speaking, I wish all these misconceptions could be wiped out. The barriers we face during menstruation are 100% discrimination and such a tradition must be eliminated.” 

When this is all girls know, it’s easy to see how the worry and shame around periods becomes ingrained. It’s often not until the final years of school, at 17 and 18, when menstruation is even mentioned on the curriculum. This, Sandhya says, is far too late. “If young girls feel shy and hide their problem within themselves, avoid maintaining their personal hygiene properly and do not even learn to change pads from their parents, it could be dangerous for them. We should teach young girls about this stuff; talk about it more.”

Compounding the problem, too, is the lack of sanitation and clean running water in schools. Sandhya’s school block only has one toilet, which has no door and is perennially dirty and run-down, meaning students are more comfortable relieving themselves in the nearby fields. Due to the lack of facilities, coupled with the shame of even acknowledging that you’re on your period, most girls and young women find it easier to stay home from school for a few days every month – meaning they miss a huge chunk of their education. 

Sandhya’s school is far from a one-off – a third of schools around the world have no clean water or toilet facilities, compromising students’ health and education and holding them back from reaching their full potential. This widespread issue is what WaterAid’s latest campaign, Thirst for Knowledge, seeks to tackle, with the help of passionate young women like Sandhya who know firsthand what a difference basic facilities and more open conversations around women’s bodies can make. The charity is working with the community to construct school water systems and decent toilets with a safe and hygienic space for girls to manage their periods, as well as making films that challenge taboos.

Sandhya is positive that things will be better for the schoolgirls who come after her, that one day a period won’t be a source of hardship and disruption for girls in Nepal as it has been for her and her peers. “I feel lucky to have been born a girl,” she says. “But we should not be untouchable just because of menstruation. I am confident that with the support of other women, we can change things.” 

This year on International Women’s Day, 8 March, Stylist is teaming up with WaterAid and Clash for Bathroom Sessions, a hybrid event in east London to raise money for WaterAid’s Thirst for Knowledge campaign.

With a panel discussion on gender equality chaired by editor-in-chief Lisa Smosarski streamed live online and sets from exciting female artists and DJs including Cat Burns and Nadia Rose, proceeds will go towards improving girls’ education through access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

To enter the prize draw and be in with a chance of winning two tickets to the musical performances, go to wateraid.org and enter by 15 February. Good luck!

Images: WaterAid/Mani Karmacharya/Sailendra Kharel