A new generation of women is tackling the menstruation taboo.
By
Sarah Harris
Katie WildeGetty Images
Aliya* felt like she was swallowing a rock. This always happened when she ingested food too quickly, but the sun was rising higher in the sky and her family would soon be up, so she had no choice. It was Ramadan, and just hours before, she had joined her family for Suhoor [the meal before sunrise] in an attempt to conceal the fact that she wasn’t actually fasting.
Doing this felt like an unnecessary burden, and she hated it. But hearing her brother trudge down the stairs, she scrambled to wash her bowl anyway, as her uterus twisted and cramped inside her. Aliya was on her period - and she’s just one of many Muslim women who has felt the need to hide the fact she’s menstruating during the month of Ramadan.