MENSTRUATION - TABOOS AND PRACTICES IN MAURITIUS
Ah-Fong Chung, Muvman Liberason FAM (MLF)
To understand this subject clearly, it is necessary to have an idea of the social and political context in which taboos and practices around menstruation occur. For this reason I first want to give a brief sketch of the various sexist customs and practices to which women are subjected in Mauritius.
Marriage
Arranged and forced marriage is the general rule. Marriage between people of different communities, castes or classes is almost prohibited by the family, although sometimes a marriage will be arranged between a young girl who has been raped and her "rapist", in order to guard the family honour. It is current practice for girls to be married at 14 years old. The parents want to get her off their hands as soon as possible so that they do not have to keep her as their dependent, or be stuck with an "old maid". In addition, families usually want to get their daughters married off as young as possible since they are only really desirable if they are virgins. Virginity is a highly prized item in Mauritius and is established by the husband and parents-in-law on the wedding night, by whether the girl bleeds or not. If she does not bleed, in the early hours of the morning she is sent back to her family who is publicly shamed to receive this "tainted merchandise". Frequently recourse will be made to a doctor to furnish a virginity certificate in case it might be needed.
Once married, women become the property of the husband. They must behave, dress and live exactly as the husband wants. They can never go out when they wish, and must obey the husband implicitly, even submitting to beatings and rape without complain. They must get their husbands' permission if they want to go out to work.
Faced with no alternatives in such a situation, women will often resort to suicide. A recent survey showed that women commit suicide much more often than men and that all suicides are related to marital problems.
In public
All women must submit to a curfew at nightfall — this by universal tradition. If they do not stay in doors they are likely to be raped, beaten or even killed. Women are also forbidden to walk in the streets after the shops have closed, to go into a restaurant on their own, or to go to the beach unaccompanied by a man. Otherwise they must expect to be sexually harassed or raped.
At work
Most of the women who have paid employment work in factories in the Free Trade Zone, or in the fields. They usually earn a little more than half what men do, which is well below the minimum living wage in Mauritius. Many of these women have to provide for the whole family, and when they are unemployed they have no alternative but to find a husband or turn to prostitution.
Abortion
Illegal abortion is very common in Mauritius. Every year one in six women of reproductive age has an abortion in very dangerous health conditions. Abortions are done by experienced abortionists using knitting needles, umbrella spokes, wire etc. The risk of complications, sterility or even death is very high.
Rape
Rape cases are very frequent. Women are raped everywhere : in public gardens, in the street, in the field, in police stations, at home, in cars,,. We are all potential victims of rapists, whatever our class and colour. And it doesn't matter what age we are : any woman from the very young to the very old is liable to be rape.
The law provides almost no protection for the woman who Is raped. In court, she is considered guilty and as having provoked rape either by her behaviour, by her style of dress, or by the way she walks or makes herself up. She has to answer physically raped, she then has to undergo moral and mental rape !
This brief sketch of the situation of women in Mauritius clearly shows how patriarchal the society still is there. This patriarchy is forcefully reflected in the taboos and misconceptions widely held about sexuality and particularly about menstruation and virginity. The different ethnic groups and religions which co-exist in Mauritius have given rise to varying practices and beliefs in this area, but they all have something in common : they legitimize the inferiority of women in relation to men.
Here are several examples of beliefs and practices of the Tamils, a Hindu sect, surrounding menstruation
When a Tamil girl has her first period, her family organises a service (religious ceremony) which is a rite of passage into a service (religious ceremony) which is a rite of passage into adulthood. During the ceremony she dyes her entire body with saffron to draw out all impurities; she must dress in a sari, and is made to sit on her father's (or maternal uncle's) knees. He will have bought her a set of new clothes which she will wear from now on.
This initiation rite is the occasion to give the young girl instruction : it consists of a series of sermons about how she must behave from now on. She must no longer act so freely or spontaneously as before; she can only go out if accompanied by adults; even at home she must not be seen when the family receives guests. Quite often it is the time to withdraw the girl from school; she is no longer sent to do errands at the shop or the neighbour's house. She must keep her head bowed at the sight of a boy, but on the other hand she must wait on the boys and men in her own family.
When a woman has a period, she may not eat at the same table as the other members of the family and must not touch the food while it is prepared. It is believed that a woman who is "indisposed" is impure and can transmit this impurity simply by touching it.
It is also forbidden for a woman who has her period to sleep in a bed : she must sleep on the floor. She is not allowed to pray or participate in any religious service for as long as she is bleeding, since she is impure.
The Hindus believe that an "indisposed" woman will make the milk go sour, while the creoles hold that if the mayonnaise curdles it's because the cook has her period !
Generally speaking it is believed that menstrual blood is bad and dirty. Women do not know where the blood comes from, and so create all kinds of strange fantasies about it.
The names commonly used to denote menstruation are : lemwa (monthly), peryod (period), mo endispoze (I'm indisposed), lemwa illness (monthly illness), and many more. These names express two ideas about menstruation : that it should occur regularly at the same time each month; and that it is a symptom of permanent illness.
When a woman does not have a period for 3-6 months "so disan pu monte lor latet" (the blood will go up her head.)
In spite of the fact that these traditions and rites are tending to disappear slowly, the spirit and ideology which they reflect to disappear slowly, the spirit and ideology which they reflect - i.e. that woman is impure and should be ashamed of her body - continue. Indeed, these taboos and prejudices about menstruation will continue as long as women have no access to information about how their bodies work or about their role in reproduction. Learning about our bodies is liberating because it enables us to make choices for ourselves. Women must get this knowledge, and have to struggle collectively to obtain and control it so that they cannot be manipulated by false information.
In the MLF, right from the beginning of our struggle, we thought it necessary to learn about our bodies and help other women to do the same. At the beginning we organised several working sessions for ourselves together with a doctor. These sessions dealt with themes such as : contraceptive methods, abortion, veneral diseases and vaginal infections, pregnancy, virginity, masturbation - taboos and myths. These group sessions helped us overcome the taboos and false beliefs which had been ingrained in us from early childhood, dating back for generations.
Next we organised and led courses with groups of women.