Behind the veil- Women and their untold story about the menstrual entanglement in coastal areas of Bangladesh.

The headlines kept me awake late into a weekday night a few days back: “1.7 crore women malnourished” in Bangladesh according to a research by icddr,b. The title may seem simple but the underneath concerns and issues are beyond description which most of the cases we overlook mentioning there is no connection between the health issues and the social stratification especially the subject of gender. Goals 6 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deal with WASH and gender equality, respectively and also contribute to the accomplishment of other sectoral objectives across the development agenda. The sector of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) has a great impact on advancing the gender equality and produce significant WASH results by implementing gender-responsive programming. For example: increased female participation and voice in management and decision-making; increased female school attendance.

Data from the JMP demonstrate that between 1990—10 years before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were announced—and 2015, the year that marked the official end of the MDG era, global access to better sanitation grew. Almost everywhere now uses enhanced sanitation more frequently (Fig. 2-1).9 Worldwide figures show that more than 2.6 billion people do not have access to "better sanitation" (WHO and Unicef 2000; WHO and Unicef 2004). The reality is far worse: the numbers include latrines that are so filthy or overcrowded that they cannot be considered to have "improved sanitation."  The situation is even worse for women and girls. Women and girls living in the coastal areas are at their stake as the salty water deteriorates their health condition at a great deal. The amount of salt that's entering women's bodies is causing more miscarriages in women in coastal areas than in other parts of the country. lack of clean water forces most girls to wash their menstrual clothes with salt water, which causes various diseases in the uterus. Higher rates of miscarriage, child mortality, and the growing risk of female infertility are harsh realities in coastal districts.  Menstrual hygiene management is a big and concerning issue for women and girls in the remote areas especially in the coastal areas of Bangladesh and this exhibit shocking practices concerning women’s hygiene practices during menstruation. Most shocking of all of them is young ladies who reside along the country's coast now frequently use birth control tablets improperly to stop their monthly cycles. Many women and girls now-a-days are aware of the long-term UTIs and declining health condition of their ancestors brought on by using saline water during menstruation. But unfortunately, they also don’t pay attention on the excessive use of birth control pills or methods on their health. According to specialists, using these oral pills without a prescription or medical advice has an effect on reproductive and mental health over the short and long terms. High blood pressure, cardiovascular illness, migraine headaches, cancer, gallbladder disease, and other health issues are all brought on by birth control tablets. Birth control pills raise the risk of blood clots, high blood pressure, or hypertension, which can result in a heart attack or stroke, according to research by the Office on Women's Health (OWH) which is no wonder any less dangerous than health hazardous women face during their menstruation in coastal areas.  Additionally, birth control drugs are believed to have negative effects on women and girls' emotional health and way of life which is hardly counted as a component for measuring a good mental health condition.

In this age of SDGs, there is no alternative than to ensure women’s participation in every sector for achieving gender equality. Women and their poor health condition is one of the main factors why women are lagging behind in education, employment, leadership and so on. The context in which women are living in has top be addressed properly to initiate the way forwards.