“Period. End of Sentence” is the winner of this year’s Oscar Short Documentary, a short film about menstruation stigmatisation. Via ABC News:
When director Rayka Zehtabchi walked on stage to collect her Academy Award for best documentary short, she was crying.
“I’m not crying because I’m on my period or anything,” she said.
“I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar!”
Her documentary, Period. End of Sentence. shone a spotlight on how menstruation can impede a girl’s ability to continue with her education.
It also highlighted the work of an organisation called The Pad Project, which aims to deliver sanitary products to women in developing countries. hen women do not have access to sanitary products like tampons and pads, they are forced to resort to unhygienic alternatives to absorb the blood, sometimes using dirty rags, leaves, newspaper and ashes.
This leaves them open to infection and creates a feeling of shame about what is a natural bodily function.
According to The Pad Project, girls are often forced to stay home from school while they are menstruating, which can sometimes equate to missing a week of school each month.
The more school girls miss, the more likely it is they will fall behind and drop out completely.
“Culturally in many parts of India, menstruation is still considered to be dirty and impure,” scholars Suneela Garg and Tanu Anand wrote in a study about menstruation myths in India.
“Taboos surrounding menstruation exclude women and girls from many aspects of social and cultural life.”