#HappyToBleed Facebook Campaign Launched Against Menstruation Scanners In Indian Temples

A Facebook campaign has been launched to protest the demand for "menstruation scanners" in Indian temples.  One of the most popular Hindu pilgrimage temples, Sabarimala, still prohibits the entry of women of menstrual age, a rule which chief of the Travancore Devaswom Board says is unlikely to change anytime soon. While speaking to the media at the Kollam Press Club on Friday, Prayar Gopalakrishnan said: There will be a day when a machine is invented to scan if it is the 'right time' (not menstruating) for a woman to enter the temple. When that machine is invented, we will talk about letting women inside." In response, the #HappytoBleed Facebook campaign was launched by 20-year-old Nikita Azad, and quickly gained traction among other angry women. The campaign's Facebook page states: "Women are denied entry to the temple because of the belief that menstruation makes them impure. "We have started #HappyToBleed as a form of resistance against patriarchal beliefs about menstruation, and chauvinist notions that consider women the property of men or society."