Despite being outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2005, with some villages having declared themselves as Chhaupadi-free zones, I am informed by both Upadhyay and Blokhus that Chhaupadi continues to exist due to illiteracy, superstitious beliefs, gender disparity and deep-rooted traditions, especially in the Far and Mid-Western regions of Nepal.Girls from these areas even have to miss school for several days whilst on their periods – severely limiting their future socioeconomic opportunities. This perpetuates a cycle of poverty for women and further increases the disparity between boys and girls on levels of education.Yet the belief that women are unclean when menstruating is not limited to rural areas, remaining endemic among many Nepali families. Women from educated and affluent family backgrounds in Kathmandu and other urban/semi-urban areas are still very much engrained in the tradition of menstrual seclusion.As I sat with 26-year-old Aparna Singh and 21-year-old Aishwarya Shrestha, both working for local based NGO Women LEAD , Aishwarya tells me: “I know all about the stories of girls forced to stay in cowsheds during their cycle but I’ve never experienced it first-hand. But here in Kathmandu we’re still not allowed to enter the kitchens, we have various food restrictions, and we cannot even enter the temples in our home."She continues: "In my house, on the fourth day of my cycle I have to take a bath, and I have to take a small gold bracelet, dip it into water and sprinkle it all over my house. This is considered to be the purification of the house. The only other time we have to do such a thing is when a person dies and people are coming back from the funeral. You have to sprinkle a piece of gold jewellery dropped in water beforehand everywhere in the house. As you can see menstruation is almost seen as negatively as death!”Singh adds: “Yes and in addition to taking a bath, at least in my home, we’re asked to take our bedsheets and pillow cases, wash them and dry them in the sun after we’ve used them while on our periods.” They both laugh, and I ask them why.“Because we realise now how ridiculous this whole thing is”, Shrestha exclaims: “I only follow Chhaupadi if my parents are there; even my brother tells me how wrong this practice is. I’m no longer following it now because I know menstruation is a natural process, I’ve been taught this by Women LEAD. But in the rural areas, not many have the privilege to access education, so they don’t know what’s happening to their bodies, they just think it’s the gods punishing them. It is a common belief that, if girls don’t respect Chhaupadi rules, their parents cannot enter the heavens. This is also why parents very much enforce it on their children – they want to go to heaven.”