A Voice For the Voiceless
The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.
The Impact of Service
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Social
Uterine prolapse in Nepal is not just a medical condition, but the by-product of a social environment that makes women vulnerable to reproductive ill-health and leaves them with few tools or strategies to address their condition.
Stigma: Too hesitant or embarrassed to seek medical attention for UP, women often live with a prolapsed uterus for years. One study in the terai (plains) region of Nepal found that women with UP had been suffering from symptoms for anywhere from six months to 45 years; most of the women (29%) had been living with a prolapsed uterus for five to ten years (CAED 2008). Many women resort to their own methods of treatment, including consuming special herbs and foods, hanging upside down, and/or inserting herb or alcohol-soaked cloths into their vagina (Bonetti et al. 2004).
In one extreme case, a Nepali doctor reported meeting a patient at a health camp in rural Nepal who had inserted a metal bangle into her vagina five years earlier to try to keep her prolapsed uterus in place (SMNF Nepal 2006). The woman’s uterus had become severely infected and the possibility of treating the condition became more complicated.
The stigma surrounding reproductive health also makes it difficult to achieve an accurate picture of the scope of reproductive morbidities in Nepal. While the UNFPA estimates that 600,000 women currently live with UP, these figures are considered conservative, as thousands of women continue to live with the condition without ever making their cases known to the health care system.
Secrecy: The taboos surrounding women’s health and sexual health extend beyond the societal level and into the household. It is common for Nepali women suffering from UP to keep their condition a total secret, even from friends, relatives, and husbands. In one study, 32% of women had not told a single person about their condition (CAED 2008). This secrecy not only makes it difficult to understand the true scope of the problem in Nepal, but it also contributes to a culture of silence and inaction around women’s health.
Neglect: Even in situations where women have the courage to discuss prolapse, the low priority given to women’s health in rural Nepal often leads to neglect of the problem and inaction. In the above study, 57% of women who told their families about their condition said that their families simply ignored the problem. In more extreme cases, 5% of women were scolded for having contracted UP and 4% were beaten (CAED 2008).
The psychosocial impact of this health burden is considerable, with sufferers experiencing a range of effects, including shame, an inability to contribute to the household, and possible rejection by their husbands and families.
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