Chuppi Todoh: how an organisation run by school students is fighting menstrual taboo in rural India

In many schools across India, especially those situated in remote areas or with underdeveloped facilities, a pattern reveals itself:

Fewer girls complete their education, being forced to drop out as they grow up and begin to menstruate due to a lack of proper facilities. 

As per reports by impact foundation Dasra, over 23 million women drop out from schools annually due to poor menstrual infrastructure. Even today, the conversation around menstruation is punctuated by stigma and silence, with patriarchal beliefs and misinformation distorting a natural process into something shameful and taboo. 

For  Priyanshi Bagga, a 17-year-old student at Shiv Nadar School, education is a key that unlocks the path to empowerment. But how can women reach their potential and choose to think differently when menstrual taboos force them out of school? Through her foundation, Chuppi Todoh, Bagga is on a mission to bridge this gap between empowerment and period poverty. 

The name 'Chuppi Todoh,' which translates to 'Breaking the Silence,' originated from a conversation between her and her house help. 

The latter recounted the troubles her daughter underwent in a government school. Set up in the middle of nowhere, the school lacked infrastructural support and required students to travel long distances. These issues became dangerous for students who had begun to menstruate, as the school could not provide the proper infrastructure and safe and hygienic facilities they needed. As a result, many were forced to drop out and take up jobs as domestic workers instead. 

Bagga realised immediately that she needed to find a solution that created a long-term impact. A pad-donation drive would bring temporary relief, but it did not guarantee female students' presence in schools. Thus, Chuppi Todoh was founded, as a way to battle the infrastructural shortcomings that forced menstruating students out of school. 

At the same time, Bagga was cognisant of the stigma surrounding menstruation. Chuppi Todoh hence also became symbolic of an appeal to end the shame around periods. 

Enroute to breaking silences

Chuppi Todoh had humble beginnings, with Bagga conducting bake sales to raise funds for the purchase of pad dispensers, along with four other students. They followed it up with crowdfunding efforts through social media, raising money from contacts. 

Eventually, with the help of a partner organisation, Chuppi Todoh installed its first pad dispenser in a government school. Bagga and her team taught the students how to use the pad machine and shared insights about menstrual hygiene as well as reproductive health with them. 

The first step was a success, but Chuppi Todoh didn't stop there. The team recognised that simply raising funds to buy pads and maintain the machines was not practical. Instead, they approached self-help groups in the villages and connected them with the schools. Through a micro-financing network, Bagga and her team developed a "self-sustaining cycle of infrastructure" to keep the machines up and running. 

With more funding and the learnings from the first school, Chuppi Todoh set up machines and improved their approach to conducting sessions in schools. However, these successes were preceded by struggle.

As Bagga recalls, "There were times when it was really hard to keep going because it felt like nothing was working out. But a really important aspect was having a good team. Even if you feel like this isn't going to work out, your team members will hold you accountable because they are looking to make the same impact." 

Small steps, big impact 

In India, menstrual practices are rooted in shame and patriarchal belief systems, and many women shoulder stigma and misinformation about their periods. In a country where such pernicious marginalisation persists, Chuppi Todoh is working to break the taboo around menstruation. 

The team has installed pad dispensers in two government schools. The organisation has raised over Rs 2 lakh and has managed to distribute almost 30,000 pads.  The real-world impact is tangible. As an informal survey in a beneficiary school revealed, attendance of female students in Classes 11 and 12, even those who travelled from longer distances, improved tremendously after the installation of the dispensers. To date, Chuppi Todoh has successfully improved the lives of over 10,000 girls. 

Chuppi Todoh's efforts have attracted the attention of global audiences. Bagga was awarded the GirlUp Project Award from the United Nations. Bagga was also a finalist of the Taco Bell Ambition Accelerator Social Impact Challenge that was conducted in partnership with Ashoka University. 

In its mission to secure equal education for all students, Chuppi Todoh has expanded its ambit. Bagga recalls a conversation about aspirations and career goals with high school students, which led to this transformation. The high school students Bagga spoke with were highly ambitious, but they had no career counsellor to guide their quest. 

As Bagga recounts, "None of them actually knew how to find their career path. It is important to acknowledge that they are also people who are really ambitious. What they lack is opportunity. It's inherently unfair that because of the socio-economic background they were born in, they were not given a chance to do whatever they wanted to do." 

The team pivoted to conducting more sessions on government schemes and scholarships. "We do not want them to think, 'Oh, my period is coming up, and I don't have products.' We want them to think about their education instead," says Bagga. 

The organisation is committed to keeping women in schools by ending gender and menstrual stigmas. Bagga believes that menstrual taboos will not end until we begin to converse fearlessly about periods in our homes and schools. "When you go ahead and say something, it just makes an impact," she says.

Chuppi Todoh's team is committed to breaking these silences. With a podcast focused on telling stories of resilience as well as a plan to expand operations in different Indian cities, it is abundantly clear that they are just getting started.