Jennifer John Britto
| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program |
| Project Title: | Sociocultural Implications on Menstruation: Narratives of Female Adolescents in Tamil Nadu |
| Field of Study: | Gender Studies |
| Home Institution: | University of Georgia, Athens, GA |
| Host Institution: | St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu |
| Grant Start Month: | August 2023 |
| Duration of Grant: | Nine months |
Brief Bio:
Jennifer Britto is from Alpharetta, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a double major in biochemistry and molecular biology, and women’s studies in the spring of 2023. Her passion for reproductive justice and women’s health led her to be a part of the Athens Reproductive Justice Collective Fellowship where she got the opportunity to work with local commissioners and do policy proposals. She is currently in the process of getting her paper, “The Significance of Researcher Positionality throughout the Research Process”, published in The Classics Journal. Courtesy her fellowship in the Public Service and Outreach Student Scholars Program, she has learnt to explore and engage with the Athens community. Due to this immersive involvement with the community, she won the Senior Leadership of Excellence Award in her women’s studies major. She hopes that the present Fulbright research project will support her in her aspiration to become a gynecologist and give her a global perspective on health inequity.
The Indian state of Tamil Nadu has vastly improved in increasing menstrual resource access to its population, which is reflected in its high ranking in the health index. However, the health of its population varies across regions, indicating that the intersectionality of factors like location, socioeconomic status, and gender creates discrepancies in access to resources like menstrual health education. For her Fulbright-Nehru project, Jennifer is conducting interviews with adolescent girls of marginalized communities in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts to develop an understanding of how disproportionate access to resources and the sway of social taboos shape their perceptions of menstruation. The interviews are also being analyzed thematically.