TO GO WITH AFP STORY: Nepal-women-religion-society, FEATURE by Annabel SYMINGTON
In this photograph taken on February 3, 2017, Nepalese women Pabitra Giri (R) and Yum Kumari Giri (L) keep warm by a fire as they live in a Chhaupadi hut during their menstruation period in Surkhet District, some 520km west of Kathmandu. - The practice of banning women from the home when they are menstruating is linked to Hinduism and considers women untouchable at this time. They are banished from the home -- barred from touching food, religious icons, cattle and men -- and forced into a monthly exile sleeping in basic huts. Chhaupadi was banned a decade ago, but new legislation currently before parliament will criminalise the practice, making it a jailable offence to force a women to follow the ritual. (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY: Nepal-women-religion-society, FEATURE by Annabel SYMINGTON