0:00:01 > 0:00:04Now on BBC News, Our World.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Kathmandu, the city I call home.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16My friend Nirmala and I never felt restricted here,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20until we started our periods.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Suddenly there were lots of things we were not meant to do,
0:00:23 > 0:00:27like cook or worship.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30My college friend, she's like I'm having my period,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'm treated like a queen, I don't have to work in kitchen,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36I don't have to go to Temples, that's not treating
0:00:36 > 0:00:38you like a queen, that's like treating you like you're
0:00:38 > 0:00:40untouchable.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43The rules didn't make much sense to us growing up.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46My mother used to tell me that you shouldn't touch plants
0:00:46 > 0:00:47or they will die.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Periods are still deeply taboo here in Nepal.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52And while things in the city are gradually changing,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54we heard in the remote far west it's very different.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02So we're leaving our urban life to travel to the mountains,
0:01:02 > 0:01:08to discover why the taboos are still so powerful.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13And ask why some people are so scared of menstruating women
0:01:13 > 0:01:18that they won't even let them inside the house.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22They have to sleep in there, I'm really shocked, this is a place
0:01:22 > 0:01:32where they keep cattle.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36My name is Divya, I recently graduated and live with my parents.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40They're very liberal but sometimes I can't take part in celebrations
0:01:40 > 0:01:48as I'm considered impure by my extended family.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51It was a festive season, I was preparing everything
0:01:51 > 0:01:54for the worship and I did everything, I worked for one day
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and I suddenly had my period and then everybody was like purify
0:01:57 > 0:02:00everything, she touched it, let's not do it now,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03it has to get purified before we worship the God.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07I think what it is when we ask our parents why we do this,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09they don't have a clear answer because they're like God
0:02:09 > 0:02:14will be angry.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11I feel she's very brave, she stood by her words that's OK
0:03:11 > 0:03:15now my daughter doesn't have to go through this and I think I'm
0:03:15 > 0:03:17going to continue that.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23I can't believe how much things have changed since my mum was young.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26But my friend Nirmala and I have heard it's very different
0:03:26 > 0:03:27outside the city.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31We know that in far west Nepal we still hear that it's the poorest
0:03:31 > 0:03:35part of our country and we really wanted to know what the women
0:03:35 > 0:03:37there are going through during menstruation periods,
0:03:37 > 0:03:44that's the reason we want to travel to the far West.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52We've never done anything quite like this before.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Our trip will take us to some of the most remote parts
0:03:55 > 0:03:57of the country where the rules around menstruation
0:03:57 > 0:04:02are politically strict.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05It takes several days to get to the far west.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Our first stop is Dang Valley in the fertile plains of Terai,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13near the Indian border.
0:04:14 > 0:04:22We've arranged to meet a local health worker to tell us
0:04:22 > 0:04:24about the situation for women here.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27We were just a few miles from the airport and we were shocked
0:04:28 > 0:04:31by what we find.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58The practice of sleeping outside the house during menstruation
0:04:58 > 0:04:59is known as chhaupadi.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03It's been going on for generations.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Because menstruating women are considered impure,
0:05:28 > 0:05:38they face other restrictions too.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41She says it's an hour's walk to the river so women can wash
0:05:41 > 0:05:47during their period.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57She doesn't feel comfortable, she won't be able to.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I thought I was facing a lot of restrictions,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06a lot of problems, but when I come here and see the people,
0:06:06 > 0:06:17this is something out of my imagination.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19She has been campaigning against chhaupadi four years
0:06:19 > 0:06:22as sleeping out without access to clean water can cause
0:06:22 > 0:06:25serious health problems.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50She tells us that chhaupadi was brought here by migrants
0:06:50 > 0:06:52from the far west so that's where we're heading,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55deep into the mountains of Bhajan to try and find out more
0:06:55 > 0:07:03about this ancient tradition.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07But what should be a ten hour drive takes far longer as it's the Hindu
0:07:07 > 0:07:08festival of colours.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09And everybody is celebrating.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27We eventually get on our way to this small village.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30When we arrive a local teenager agrees to show me around.
0:07:30 > 0:07:41Almost every family in this village practices chhaupadi.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44She tells me women will wear the same close and sleep out
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Almost every family in this village practices chhaupadi.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31She tells me women will wear the same close and sleep out
0:08:31 > 0:08:35for four nights, during that time they can't touch men or eat certain
0:08:35 > 0:08:38foods, afterwards they are purified with cow urine and return
0:08:38 > 0:08:46to normal life.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12This very fun part they told me was that they don't follow it,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14they touch their brothers and fathers and they come
0:10:14 > 0:10:17to their own house after menstruating and they don't even
0:10:17 > 0:10:19purify themselves after touching other women who are menstruating.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I think things are changing.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23I think it won't last for long any more.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26And while I've been continuing to talk, Nirmala has met a young
0:10:26 > 0:10:29woman who is pushing the boundaries even further.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32She is in her early 20s like us and hasn't slept in the hut
0:10:32 > 0:10:36for two years.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35There are several hundred people in the village.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Most of the young men work abroad as labourers in India or the Gulf.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43So it's the older generation who make the rules.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51We don't find the older generation saying no true traditions,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54it's the younger ones who are experimenting you are saying
0:12:54 > 0:12:55no this is not true.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58So I think it's our generation who wants to explore new things,
0:12:58 > 0:13:07I think this generation will bring change.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10But change comes very slowly, and even in cosmopolitan Kathmandu,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15some of the taboos still remain.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18I told my friends that I had my period in the school
0:13:18 > 0:13:20and they were shocked to see me.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Really, why were they shocked?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25They were just like how can you come on the first day,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29you should be inside the room, you should not go in the kitchen,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32you should not touch any boys, they were pretty shocked about it.
0:13:32 > 0:13:33Are they still following those restrictions?
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Yes like I have seen my friends, they have a special room just
0:13:37 > 0:13:40because they have a period and mostly in the houses
0:13:40 > 0:13:45where their grandparents are, they mostly follow it.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00While we can laugh about the restrictions,
0:14:00 > 0:14:06they can have serious consequences.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07Several girls have died sleeping out.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Just last year, a 15-year-old suffocated while trying to light
0:14:10 > 0:14:14a fire to keep herself warm in a chhau hat and according
0:14:14 > 0:14:17to my local priest, there is nothing in Hindi scripture that says
0:14:17 > 0:14:22they need to practice chhaupadi at all.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50The government has been trying to change things.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Chhaupadi was declared illegal in 2005, but that hasn't made much
0:14:54 > 0:15:00difference to people.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35We have heard such a lot about chhau and want to experience
0:15:35 > 0:15:39it for ourselves.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08The women inside are members of the same family, this woman only
0:16:08 > 0:16:10started her period six months ago to this is all new to her.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25In an effort to end the practice, international NGOs and local
0:17:25 > 0:17:32government have been working together to educate local people.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34And several areas have now been declared officially chhau free.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38But we want to see what that really means so we're travelling
0:17:38 > 0:17:41to a chhau free village.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46A local journalist is travelling with us to show us the way.
0:18:10 > 0:18:11Here we go.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16It's a bumpy ride.
0:18:16 > 0:18:23And we don't get very far.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Something really terrible happened, our car just got into the mud and it
0:18:27 > 0:18:31didn't come out.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I think we have got some work to do.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Unexpected heavy rain at the night before has made
0:18:36 > 0:18:40the roads almost impassable.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48It worked.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58We eventually get on our way.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02We don't want to get stuck in the mud again so we decide
0:19:02 > 0:19:07to walk into the village.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10And initially people here are reluctant to speak to us
0:19:10 > 0:19:14about what has changed.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30But not everyone has been so accepting of the changes.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I'm really shocked, this is a place where they keep cattle.
0:20:37 > 0:20:43We expected things to be very different here.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47With girls sleeping in their own rooms.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50But it didn't look that different to the previous village.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Just demolishing the huts will not make a difference
0:20:53 > 0:20:55because it's their mentality, their beliefs, it's their thinking
0:20:55 > 0:20:58which has to change, it's not just the huts that
0:20:58 > 0:21:08are demolished that will change it.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11We want to know if the people in charge think the chhau free
0:21:11 > 0:21:15policy is working.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59We are shocked that even government officials admit
0:21:59 > 0:22:04the lies aren't working.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07And as knocking huts down doesn't seem to discourage people either,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10it looks like it's down to our generation to try to change things.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18It's time for us to head home, but as we leave,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22I hope that the girls will continue to push the boundaries of tradition.
0:22:22 > 0:22:28So that their daughters can earn the simple right to sleep inside.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Well, the bank holiday weekend is upon us.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Let's see what the weather's up to.