Menstrual health in schools integral to right to life under Article 21: Supreme Court

Why in news

The Supreme Court of India declared that the right to menstrual health and access to menstrual hygiene management (MHM) measures in educational institutions is part of the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Constitutional interpretation

• Article 21 includes:
– Right to dignity
– Right to privacy
– Bodily autonomy
• Dignity cannot be reduced to an abstract ideal and must find expression in conditions that enable individuals to live without humiliation, exclusion, or avoidable suffering.

Key observations of the Court

• Inaccessibility of MHM measures subjects menstruating girl children to:
– Stigma
– Stereotyping
– Humiliation
• Absence of safe and hygienic menstrual management measures undermines dignified existence by compelling adolescent students to:
– Resort to absenteeism, or
– Adopt unsafe practices
• Both outcomes violate the bodily autonomy of girl children.
• Menstrual poverty hinders girls from exercising their right to education with dignity, equal to their male counterparts or students who can afford sanitary products.
• Impairment of primary or secondary education has grave and lasting consequences.

Legal findings

• Judgment based on a writ petition filed by Dr. Jaya Thakur highlighting lack of MHM measures in schools across the country.
• Lack of MHM measures in schools violates:
– Right to privacy
– Bodily autonomy of students

Directions issued by the Supreme Court

Infrastructure and access

• States and Union Territories to ensure that every school, whether:
– Government-run or privately managed
– Located in urban or rural areas
• Must be provided with functional, gender-segregated toilets.
• Schools must make oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins readily accessible to students:
– Free of cost
– Preferably within toilet premises
– Through sanitary napkin vending machines

MHM corners

• Schools must establish MHM (menstrual hygiene management )corners.
• To be equipped with, including but not limited to:
– Spare innerwear
– Spare uniforms
– Disposable bags
– Other necessary materials to address menstruation-related exigencies

Scope of menstrual hygiene management

• MHM is not limited to traditionally understood sanitation.
• Includes:
– Bodily autonomy
– Decisional freedom
• Denial of adequate facilities, sanitary products or privacy compels a girl child to manage her body in a manner dictated by circumstance rather than choice.
• Autonomy can be meaningfully exercised only when girl children have access to:
– Functional toilets
– Adequate menstrual products
– Availability of water
– Hygienic mechanisms for disposal

Education and dignity

• The State cannot force a child to choose between dignity and education.
• Such a choice is neither just nor equitable.
• Failure to provide sanitary napkins creates a gender-specific barrier that:
– Impedes attendance
– Disrupts continuity in education
• This defeats the substantive guarantee of free and compulsory education.

Men in menstruation

• Court emphasised the need to educate and sensitise:
– Male teachers
– Male students
• On the biological reality of menstruation.
• Objective is to avoid:
– Harassment
– Invasive questioning of menstruating students

Link with Right to Education Act, 2009

• Section 19 prescribes norms for schools, including:
– Separate washrooms for boys and girls
– Barrier-free access
• Government schools:
– State to be held accountable for non-compliance
• Private schools:
– Liable to de-recognition and consequences for violation of prescribed norms

Significance

• Expands interpretation of Article 21 to include menstrual health in schools
• Strengthens gender justice and substantive equality in education
• Recognises menstruation as an issue of dignity, autonomy and rights
• Enhances State accountability in school governance

Prelims Practice MCQs

Q. The Supreme Court recently held that access to menstrual health and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in schools is part of which of the following constitutional provisions?

a) Article 14 only
b) Article 15(3) only
c) Article 21 only
d) Articles 21 and 39(f)

Correct answer: c

Explanation:
The Court explicitly held that menstrual health and access to MHM measures form part of the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. While gender justice principles may relate to other articles, the judgment is squarely anchored in Article 21.