Period spot checks ruined my schooling life, recalls former student
Twenty years after she left school, Zalina (not her real name) is still unable to forget the trauma of her menstrual period spot check experiences, which she claimed ruined her schooling years.
Speaking to Malaysiakini on condition of anonymity, the 36-year-old said the experience had haunted her to the extent that she had become afraid of Friday prayers.
Zalina, who studied at an all girl's national secondary school in the northern region, said her school made it mandatory for students to attend prayers every Friday.
"When I was in Form 4, they started to do spot checks for those who claimed to have their period," she said, adding that she was affected by the spot checks every month until she graduated.
The students were told to line up near the toilet where the ustazah (female religious teacher) would stand behind them and grope them to see if the girls were wearing pads, she said.
If she could not feel the pad by touch, she would then ask the students to show the bloody pads, according to Zalina.
Fearing that she would be targeted by the ustazah, she said she felt forced to comply with the spot checks.
As far back as Form 1 she had been mocked and singled out for not wanting to wear the baju kurung, so she decided not to argue against the spot checks. She also felt targeted for not always wearing the headscarf.
"The ustazah told me that (judging by) the way I was - I would end up being a bad girl once I am out of school and they would treat me as if I am part of the 'rosak' (immoral) girls."
Zalina also remembered how a girl nearly cried when she found her baju kurung stained with blood after she had to show her pad to the ustazah.
"She had to take a bus back home and the ustazah did not even apologise to the student.
"My mum was angry about this, but I told her not to come to school, out of fear that I would be punished later," she said, adding that nobody dared to file a complaint against the teacher.
"It is tragic. If I am able to turn back time and be young again, I won't choose to be 13 to 17 years old again. I don't have kids, but if I am going to have a daughter in the future, I don't want her to experience this," Zalina stressed.
When Malaysiakini's period spot check reports stirred these unpleasant memories, Zalina felt she had a responsibility to share her story, doing her bit to urge schools to cease such practices.
Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that in multiple schools, girls have to undergo “period spot checks” where they are told to physically prove they are on their period - through means that violated their privacy.
This was according to current students and those who left school up to 20 years ago.
The measures included showing their blood-soaked sanitary pads, doing swabs of their vagina with either cotton buds, tissues, or their fingers, or having a teacher, warden, or school prefect pat them down at the groin to feel if they are wearing a sanitary pad, they said.
More than a dozen individuals reached out to Malaysiakini in less than 24 hours after a call for stories was made. They recalled how the behaviour towards menstruation at boarding schools was “shameful” but was accepted as “normal practice”.
A key trigger was the practice of teachers or senior students demanding “proof of menstruation” from girls who did not join the daily congregational prayers which are commonly held in residential or religious-based schools.
In Islam, women or girls who are menstruating do not perform ritual prayers.
Penang mufti Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor spoke out against the practice of checking whether schoolgirls are having their menstrual period, saying no one has the right to embarrass girls and women by checking their private parts to see whether they are menstruating.
The practice was also condemned in a joint statement by the All Women’s Action Society (Awam), Sisters In Islam (SIS) and Pertubuhan Pembangunan Kendiri Wanita dan Gadis (Women:Girls).
Former ministers Rafidah Aziz and Azalina Othman also voiced their opposition to the practice, with Rafidah demanding that the Education Ministry act to put a stop to this and lay out clear ground rules on how schools, including boarding schools, treat students.
Yesterday, Deputy Education Minister Muslimin Yahaya said he still had not received any information on the matter and as such, was reserving his comments. - Mkini
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