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A menstruation hut is a place of seclusion or isolation used by certain cultures with strong menstrual taboos. The same or a similar structure may be used for childbirth and postpartum confinement, based on beliefs around ritual purity. These huts are usually built near the family home, have small doors, and are often dilapidated, with poor sanitation and ventilation, and no windows. The Nepali version, the Chhaupadi, is probably the best-known example, but cultural attitudes towards menstruation around the world mean that these huts exist, or existed until recently, in other places as well. The use of menstrual huts continues to be a cause of death, from exposure, dehydration, snake bite, smoke inhalation, and so on. The use of these huts is illegal in some places.
Within the margam gojos, there are few utensils, some pieces of equipment, and some basic furniture. Stones are placed in a circular shape around the menstruation hut at a radius of one and a half meters to help distinguish between perceived impure and pure spaces. If anyone were to come into contact with the woman during their menstruation, they too would have to stay in the hut. To avoid contact, the families of the women in the margam gojos leave food outside the door.
To avoid ritually contaminating their food or drink with blood, which would render it unfit to consume, women wear leather belts under their shirts with fabric tied to them designed to stem the flow of blood. During menstruation, a woman is not allowed to go in or across rivers, as her menstrual blood would render it ritually impure. Once a woman has finished menstruating, another woman will watch her immerse in a river. There, the woman who has just finished menstruating will wash herself and the clothes she wore in the margam gojo. After she and her clothes are clean, she will change into pure clothes that have been retrieved from her home. The only time that a Jewish woman ceases going to the margam gojo is when she starts menopause, as it puts an end to the impurity.
According to a representative of from a local NGO Sparsh, at least eight women have died in Gadchiroli alone since 2011 as a result of this forced seclusion. Some have died due to pneumonia, while others were bitten by snakes. Jayanti Baburao Gawade, a 47-year-old was made to go to the menstrual hut while she had fever and high blood pressure and was discovered dead the next morning by her family in Ettapalli, Gadchiroli district, in November 2017. During cyclone Gaja in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, a 14-year-old girl who was compelled to stay in a hut outside her home because she was menstruating, was killed when a coconut tree fell on it.
In 2015, India's National Human Rights Commission called the practice as "a violation of human rights" and ordered Maharashtra to take action to end the practice. Religion and tradition are often cited as main reasons for justifying restrictions. It is believed by the people that the tradition could not be changed because "it's been decreed by our gods" and if they defied tradition, they would face the wrath of gods and invite illness and death in the family.
Many girls are forced to remain absent from school due to this practice. An estimated 23% of girls in India drop out of school when they start menstruating. This custom frequently prevents girls from taking their exams while she is menstruating. It denotes that only a few girls from regions where this practice is prevalent continue their education past matriculation.
To challenge the stigma and taboos around menstruation, various social media campaigns have been launched. The #periodforchange campaign, started by the Kachra Project, encouraged discussion on the topic. #Happytobleed is another counter-campaign to combat the sexism that women experience as a result of taboos associated with menstruation. It recognizes menstruation as a normal occurrence which doesn't need curtains to hide behind.
The women must stay outside the village during menstruation, but they are free to wander the forest and surrounding areas. They cannot meet or help their husbands in any way, but they may gather their own food and amuse themselves as they please with music and stories in the hut.
During menstruation, the women are considered unclean and impure so they cannot interact with the men or be in the village. They see themselves as the saviors of men because they are able to handle their menstruation and keep the men safe and clean. The menstruating women are required to bathe in a special fountain where men were not allowed.
The Kodi keep their menstruation a secret by hiding it and not telling anyone so that they can use it as a source of female manipulation and witchcraft or Naturopathy. The women are allowed to take care of all their duties during menstruation. Other women are the caretakers of those in menstruation, and they have many symbolisms, Taboo, and beliefs around it involving dyes, tattoos, and rituals.
The Yurok women of California lived in menstruation huts built near the main house. The Yurok women were required to stay in a menstruation hut a short way away from the village. There is much taboo and power associated with menstruation in this culture. Those menstruating must remain in the hut and abide by certain rules or there will be consequences for her, the other women, and even the village because she holds so much power. The women are thought by many to be unclean, and anything they use is made unclean as well, but the women believe themselves to be very powerful in this time and they should not waste time on trivial tasks during menstruation.
The Páez people of the southwestern highlands of Colombia previously used menstruation huts.
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