Organizations involved
USAID
Summary
The Menstrual Hygiene Campaign: Reach and Recall Study in Himachal Pradesh (2015) was conducted across Chamba, Mandi, Shimla, and Sirmaur districts of India to assess the efficacy of a menstrual hygiene social and behavior change communication (SBCC) campaign. Households with women ages 12-25 were targeted for the quantitative component and mothers ages 28-40 with daughters ages 12-25 were included under the qualitative component of the evaluation. While maintaining good menstrual hygiene is important for women and young girls, it remains a taboo subject that is not discussed openly in many societies and is associated with societal restrictions for menstruating women and girls. This campaign addresses a need for effective SBCC to increase awareness of proper menstrual hygiene practices, shifts norms around mother-daughter dialog around menstruation, and that positions menstruation as a normal biological process.
Social norms of interest
Menstrual hygiene management
Behaviors of interest
Menstrual hygiene management
Project components
Multi-media SBCC package
Social norms measurement
Point-in-time semi-structured questionnaires; In-depth interviews
Key findings to date
Exposure to the campaign had a positive impact on the knowledge and practices of the respondents about menstrual hygiene. Exposed participants also faced comparatively fewer restrictions related to menstruation (i.e. prohibited from entering the prayer area at home) than those that were not exposed. There is a lack of rapport between mothers and daughters and an expectation that daughters will learn to handle menstruation on their own, as menstruation is a taboo subject.
