Mumbai: Neha Dhupia is taking bold steps to address the stigmas surrounding menstrual health with her newly launched initiative, GoFloRun. In an exclusive conversation with Zee News, Neha opened up about the inspiration behind this campaign, the need for action over words, and the persisting taboos in society.
When asked Neha about starting an awareness campaign about menstrual health which is a need of an hour and one needs to talk, she said, “More than speaking we need to come out and do. It’s time to come out and do, speaking is not enough. We have enough people who speak and say we need a change and I am glad that I have come out.”
Neha added the stigmas that are still there for the menstrual cycle, “Even today menstrual cycle conversation comes with a lot of taboo. I am so glad that the first event was so successful for GloFoRun. I called up so many people who actually came out and lent their voice, from Sonu Sood, Soha Ali Khan, Natasa Stankovic and others.”
She went on to add,” I am still in the generation where sanitary napkins are given in a black plastic bag, not much has changed. Now I know there is a reason why it is called Whisper. And it’s not about the lives of people like us, we have toilets, and we have access, currently, I am on an adventurous shoot, where I am going from one place to another, I feel accessibility to women on set when comes to the toilet and all becomes harder.”.
When quizzed about the agenda behind the initiative and said, “Imagine this is just one shoot in our lives, but imagine there are women who go through this, there are girls who are dropping out from school and colleges because there are no toilets there’d there are so many taboos and stigmas attached to periods even today. Who is going to break that? Who is going to Normalise for a woman like them? I feel this change is essential.”
Neha indeed is one of the influential female stars in Bollywood and kudos to her for starting this campaign. Neha’s initiative is an inspiring step forward in raising awareness and challenging societal taboos. Her efforts with GoFloRun are a call to action for everyone to contribute to creating a world where menstrual health is no longer a taboo subject.