Nasreen Jehan, a high school student in eastern India, studies a leaflet on menstrual hygiene. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
BETTIAH, India, May 28 2014 (IPS) – Fifteen-year-old Nasreen Jehan, a student in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, proudly flaunts a yellow and red beaded bracelet encircling her wrist. This humble accessory, she tells IPS, is her most treasured possession.
“It helps me keep track of my menstrual calendar,” says the 9th-grader, who attends a government-run, all-girls school in a town called Bettiah. “Also, it helps me talk about menstruation with my friends.”
Of the 24 small beads that comprise the delicate adornment, six are …
Serra Sippel is President of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
WASHINGTON, Mar 18 2015 (IPS) – Earlier this month, President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned speech marking the 50th Anniversary of the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and the bloody attack on civil rights marchers by police.
President Obama issued what was tantamount to a call to action for Americans to speak out for what is right. He stated: Loving this country requires more than singing its praises or avoiding uncomfortable truths. It requires the occasional disruption, the willingness to speak out for what s right and shake up the status quo.
