Imagine being told that the most natural thing, your period, makes you impure, that your touch could spoil food, anger the gods, or worse, bring misfortune upon your family. The Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal has made girls live in an isolated way during their periods; purification marks an impurity. They are disallowed from touching anyone, cooking, entering temples, or sleeping in their home during their menstrual period.
In the still hills of western Nepal, a teenage girl bundles up inside a decaying hut made of mud and sticks, “Chhau goths,” small, dirty sheds on the edges of villages, when night falls and the temperature drops. Everything she sees is corrupted because she isn’t there of her own volition; she’s been exiled for bleeding.
Although the practice was banned in 2017, it continues in many rural areas. Deep-rooted beliefs, fear, and gender bias keep it alive.
Many young girls face this during their first period and may stay in isolation for up to 14 days. These huts are unsafe, unhygienic, and often exposed to cold weather and wild animals. If a girl falls sick during her period, she may not get medical help until it’s over or not at all. This delay can lead to serious health problems.
Chhaupadi isn’t just a harmful custom. It shows how society still fails its women.
Menstruation is not a private thing here; it’s more like a punishment. Due to the everyday physiological occurrence, the condition of the ten-year-old is said to face harsh treatment due to the Chhaupadi tradition in Nepal. Though outlawed, the tradition is still practiced and firmly in religious fear.
This practice reflects a broader moral crisis regarding the treatment of women and societal beliefs about purity. This article attempts to unpack the origins, impact, and moral crisis regarding the Chhaupadi tradition in Nepal and explore why this ancient practice does not match the modern definitions of women’s rights in Nepal.
Understanding the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal
Origins and Historical Context
The Chhaupadi tradition in Nepal is not just a tradition based on the fact that having menstruation is a taboo in western Nepal alone; it is a fact that has been ongoing for hundreds of years, intertwined within Nepal’s religious and social structures. The term “Chhaupadi” combines the word Chhau, which means impurity, and Padi, which means affected. The whole concept proclaims the impurity of menstruation and that women bring bad luck with them if they menstruate.
This belief comes from Hinduism, where menstruation is often seen as a kind of impurity for the woman. Ancient scriptures, which have been interpreted sometimes correctly but sometimes wrongly and exaggerated with time, have been used to exclude menstruating women from everyday life. This belief has been upheld for generations and has become more of a social code than one laid down by religion, now enforced by the community.
The religious practice of Chhaupadi requires that females must spend their menstrual periods outside their accommodations while barred from all public events at home, school, or religious centers. The tradition that began centuries ago continues to affect numerous rural parts of Nepal, particularly the Achham, Bajura, and Dailekh regions.
Religious and Cultural Roots
The Chhaupadi tradition in Nepal is deeply rooted in Hindu beliefs that see menstruation as unclean. The interpretations say a menstruating woman can anger the gods, endanger crops, or bring illness to the household. As a consequence, women are separated so that they do not “contaminate” sacred areas or food.
Religion and social pressure reinforce this belief in many rural communities. Families fear being cursed or judged for breaking with tradition. Elders and spiritual leaders often corroborate these fears, making it difficult to challenge the practice, even when people don’t believe in it anymore. So what started as a religious rite evolved into a damaging cultural practice that punishes generations of Nepali females.
The Harsh Reality of Menstrual Exile
Life in the Chhau Goth
Social Story – Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal – Pic – The Kathmandu Post
Many girls and women have to bear the separation of banishment while menstruating in rural Nepal. Their poor condition forces the girls and women to sleep in Chhau goths, small huts or cow sheds made on short notice, often far from home. The huts are dark and damp, lack proper ventilation, and are unprotected from the weather elements and wildlife.
Inside the hut, there’s usually nothing but a straw mat or a thin blanket. They have to cook their food, and there is no toilet nearby, just fields. They are not allowed to touch even their family members. And clean water is not easy to access. Thus, they are under a lot of discomfort, fear, and isolation.
The Psychological and Physical Toll on Women
Women who experience Chhaupadi face ongoing isolation because of fear, along with emotional suffering. This cultural practice exceeds its physical impact to rob women of their dignity and human connection, which causes severe psychological brutality. Women spend many nights in dark huts feeling terrified because talking to family members is strictly prohibited. The organized way women are cut off shows the full extent of the moral consequences and emotional suffering when forced into this practice.
Menstruation Myths and Period Stigma in Nepali Culture
Taboos Around Menstrual Blood
Menstruation exists as a topic that Nepali society chooses to hide and whose stigma prevails without discussion. Many societies falsely believe menstrual blood possesses toxic properties that make it unholy. Society views menstruating women as both unlucky and dirty. Societal rules forbid menstruating women from cooking, touching others, and entering religious spaces because they might cause religious contamination.
The restrictions society imposes on us pose more than an inconvenience because they create harm. Young girls start believing their bodies should be hidden, and because of this, they develop profound feelings of inadequacy. Minimal discussion regarding menstruation creates difficulties for teenage girls to seek help while educating themselves about appropriate menstrual practices.
Connection to Untouchability During Periods
During their menstruation, women encounter social avoidance, which bars them from family events, religious ceremonies, and eating together with their families. Menstrual bias duplicates caste-based discrimination through untouchability processes, which perpetuate damaging gender norms and make women feel inferior during menstruation.
Gender Discrimination and Patriarchy
The Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal has male-dominated beliefs that declare menstruating girls to be unclean, which imposes social isolation upon girls at that time. Rural, patriarchal social orders dominate female culture, restricting the rights of women and perpetuating silence and shame regarding menstruation.
From childhood, girls are socialized to conceal their periods and adhere strictly to norms, which other socialized women sometimes uphold. Conformity is equated with obedience and is even linked to the potential to get married. Noncompliance is met with backlash, such as social shaming and exclusion.
Gender discrimination follows women to the point that it severely damages their mental state and overall self-esteem by making them feel inadequate, as they are born with basic natural features. The change toward gender equality requires educational programs that work to transform cultural values, empowering women and directly involving men in challenging harmful traditions.
The Nepali government has vigorously tried to end the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal. The Supreme Court ruled that the practice was illegal in 2005. It was then legislated further through the Criminal Code of 2017, which criminalized compelling women to be isolated during menstruation. They can be imprisoned for up to three months, with a fine of 3,000 rupees (about $30).
Even with such laws, enforcement has not been effective. Many authorities prefer not to act due to cultural sensitivities or fear of alienating the community. Traditional beliefs that underpin Chhaupadi are held by some officials themselves, which again act to impede change.
While some Chhau huts in certain areas have been destroyed, others are quietly reconstructed. Top-level government initiatives fail to trickle down to the grassroots, where awareness and education are necessary. Success requires legislation, community involvement, awareness, and support programs for women.
Legal reform is necessary, but lasting change relies on changing public attitudes and giving local leaders the power to act.
Implementation Challenges
Despite the legal prohibition, the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal continues to exist due to strong cultural beliefs, particularly rural beliefs. Many insist on the practice due to the threat of divine wrath or social penalty.
Local authorities tend to look the other way, having the same common views or no legal knowledge. In remote areas, where the infrastructure is poor, access to education and sanitation facilities is limited, making it all the more difficult to bring about change.
The destroyed Chhau huts are rebuilt quietly while the older generation’s resistance remains strong. It takes community-level education, local leaders’ participation, and women and youth empowerment to bring the change around.
Role of NGOs and Activists
Success Stories from Local Interventions
Local activists, alongside nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are at the forefront of the campaign to reverse the practice of the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal. Organizations such as Karnali Integrated Rural Development & Research Centre (KIRDARC) and Restless Development Nepal run community programs, raise awareness of menstrual hygiene, and provide access to sanitary items at the sites where the practice is firmly established.
Men Involved in the Movement for Change
Significantly, teachers, along with community leaders, are being equipped to speak up. When men step forward to reject negative traditions, it challenges patriarchal norms and conveys that menstruation is not the responsibility of the woman but that of the community.
Rather than legislating change exclusively, NGOs encourage education and empowerment methods to break down the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal and empower women and girls to reclaim dignity and rights.
Intersectionality: Chhaupadi, Poverty, and Access
With poverty and a lack of resources, the Chhaupadi tradition in Nepal is closely interlinked with such acts. Rural women do not have the money to buy sanitary materials for themselves and rely on unsafe alternatives such as grass or used-up pieces of cloth that put their health at risk. Medical centers are remote, under-equipped, and challenging to access, especially where the subject of menstruation is taboo.
Poverty engulfs families into a daily survival instinct, leaving no room for questioning harmful traditions. In remote areas, minimal infrastructure and low educational status cause girls to drop out during puberty. The absence of private toilets or hygiene materials makes it almost impossible for school-going girls to attend school during menstruation.
Chhaupadi prevails because the poorest women have few options. Eradicating it requires more than legislating bans; it requires access to healthcare, sanitation, education, and dignity.
Media’s Role in Exposing the Truth
The media has obstinately covered the extreme realities of the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal. Documentaries, news items, and social media campaigns brought to the forefront the dangers and injustices that women are subjected to during menstruation exile.
It is reported in national and international dailies such as The Guardian, BBC, and Al Jazeera about girls dying in Chhau sheds. Social media has further added voices of the affected communities, especially Nepali youth, overcoming menstrual stigma.
Visual narratives, such as social media videos and photographs, generated sympathy and outrage, resulting in pressure from the public to reform. The case has used the hashtag #EndChhaupadi, an online and offline rallying call for activists.
As is customary in countries with unbroken traditionalism, the media is the biggest tool for information and transformation, violating taboos, influencing opinion, and driving change from below.
Global Perspectives on Menstrual Taboos
Social Story – Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal
Menstrual taboos are among those that are not only peculiar to the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal. Even around the world, several societies are conditioned to treat menstruation as impure or base and, therefore, shameful. During menstrual periods, a few temples in India restrict access for women. Girls encounter shaming and social ostracism in Ethiopia, while unsafe menstrual hygiene management is a concern in Afghanistan, stemming from misinformation. In other, wealthier countries, too, embarrassment about menstruation keeps many girls from speaking out and learning about it.
This kind of impact is a result of cultural differences. The result, however, is always more or less the same: school absence, poor health, and social exclusion. But global activism is fighting back. Movements like Period Positive, Menstrual Hygiene Day, and #FreeThePeriod are making a loud noise, bringing open dialogue, and demanding worldwide menstrual equity.
From these lessons, Nepal can adopt culturally grounded, community-led solutions to address the Chhaupadi tradition in Nepal. Ending Chhaupadi is not an isolated mission; it’s part of a more significant, growing global movement to make menstruation normal and dignified for all who bleed.
The Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal is not only indicative of a damaging menstrual taboo, but it is also an illustration of a deeply ingrained moral crisis based on patriarchy, poverty, and silence based on culture. Although disallowed, it remains all-pervasive in most societies, characterized by isolation, fear, and illiteracy.
Breaking the cycle requires more than laws. A cultural change is needed to empower girls and women and enhance their access to menstrual products alongside open discussions about menstruation. The community must actively dismantle these embedded beliefs, but explicit, active involvement from male and senior members of society is needed.
Menstrual sheds are being dismantled across Nepal; hence, young people, activists, teachers, and health workers will change the narrative and restore dignity for future generations. With continued pressure and support, there is hope that the Chhaupadi Tradition in Nepal will soon be relegated to the annals of history: a painful reminder of what was and an important lesson about what must never be.
