Menstrual health awareness and sanitary pads distribution program
Menstrual Health Program
At a Glance
The Challenge
Across the globe, millions of girls and women miss up to 50-60 days of school or work every year because they cannot afford menstrual hygiene products. Due to high cost of sanitary napkins, women rely on old rags, plastic, ash or other unhygienic methods to manage their periods which may cause infections, UTIs, rashes, hormonal imbalance and even cervical cancer. Read More...
Our Strategy
With access to pads, girls can participate in school, engage socially and carry out daily activities with dignity. Through our Menstrual Health Program, we work together with local schools, communities, and NGOs to distribute sanitary napkins and conduct menstrual hygiene awareness seminars. Read More...
Initiatives
One of the key initiatives of our Menstrual Health Program includes direct distribution of biodegradable sanitary napkins to underprivileged girls and women in rural communities. In order to fight the stigma around periods and to educate adolescent girls and women about hygienic methods for managing their periods, we regularly organize health awareness seminars. Read More...
The Challenge
Across the globe, millions of girls and women miss up to 50-60 days of school or work every year because they cannot afford menstrual hygiene products.
75%
of India's 350 million adolescent girls and women do not have access to sanitary napkins
300 MILLION
women rely on old rags, plastic or ash to manage their menstrual cycles
23%
of girls in India drop out of school once they reach puberty
90%
decrease in school dropout rate when adolescent girls have access to sanitary napkins
70%
of Indian girls and women cannot afford menstrual hygiene products
The Challenge: Economic Aspect
Due to high cost of sanitary napkins, around 70% of Indian girls and women are not able to afford monthly supply of menstrual hygiene products to manage their periods. It is a leading reason for higher school dropout rates of adolescent girls than boys once they reach puberty. Due to lack of access to affordable sanitary napkins, many women remain at home during menstruation due to social stigma and discomfort. As a result they miss up to 50-60 days of work every year and lose a significant amount of income.
The Challenge: Healthcare Aspect
Around 300 million girls and women in India rely on old rags, plastic, ash or other unhygienic methods to manage their periods. Commercial disposable pads contain harsh chemicals, artificial perfumes and other synthetic components which have been linked to skin irritation, rashes, UTIs, hormonal imbalance and even cervical cancer. Extremely sensitive permeable membranes of the vagina allow direct transfer of harmful toxins from synthetic pads into the circulatory system since these pads remain in close contact with vaginal tissues for long durations.
The Challenge: Environmental Aspect
On average, women use around 10,000 sanitary napkins in their lifetime. Conventional pads contain up to 90% plastic and remain unchanged in the landfill for around 600-800 years after disposal. These pads contain around 3.4g of petrochemical plastic with every sanitary pad releasing 23.4 grams of carbon dioxide in the process. With only 1 in 6 women using sanitary pads in India, around 150,000 tonnes of pad waste is generated per year. If all of 355 million women start using pads, it would result in around 1,000,000 tons of pad waste annually. Sanitary napkins that get dumped in acres of landfills get picked up by birds and animals and pollute land and water. Microscopic plastic particles that reach the ocean get transferred through multiple layers of the food chain which could even end up on your plate.
The Challenge: Social Aspect
Social and cultural stigma around menstruation prevents young girls and women from receiving necessary information and proper education about how to manage their periods safely and hygienically. Even a simple task of buying sanitary napkins from a store consists of awkwardly whispering the name of a sanitary napkin brand and then quickly putting in a bag to hide it from the world. In many parts of India, especially in remote villages, menstruating girls and women are considered impure or dirty. They are not allowed to leave home or interact with family members while they are bleeding.
Our Strategy
When young girls and women are empowered with equal opportunities, they can reach their full potential and reshape societies. After careful evaluation of multi-dimensional challenges associated with gender inequality, we have developed our Menstrual Health Program that aims to positively impact women, economy, environment and local communities.
Strategic Solution: Economic Aspect
In order to make affordable sanitary napkins accessible to underprivileged girls and women in rural communities, we have collaborated with Sparkle Innovations. Through our Menstrual Health Program, we distribute sanitary napkins to adolescent girls and women in rural communities. According to UNICEF, around 23% of girls in India drop out of school once they reach puberty. When adolescent girls have access to sanitary napkins, school dropout rate decreases by 90%. It also increases the number of workdays for women by around 40-50 days per year which leads to significant increase in income.
Strategic Solution: Healthcare Aspect
Access to healthy menstrual hygiene products and awareness about how to safely manage periods can prevent many serious reproductive diseases, UTIs, hormonal imbalance and even cervical cancer. Through our Menstrual Health Program, we distribute biodegradable, healthy and safe sanitary pads and conduct menstrual hygiene management seminars in schools, colleges and local communities.
Strategic Solution: Environmental Challenge
Instead of distributing conventional low-cost and low quality plastic pads that take around 600-800 years to degrade, we distribute eco-friendly, plastic-free and chemical free pads that are designed to biodegrade quickly. Unlike conventional disposable pads that contain up to 90% plastic and other harsh chemicals that are harmful for health and the environment, we distribute pads that do not pollute the planet for hundreds of years.
Strategic Solution: Social Challenge
Menstruation is a highly stigmatized topic in many parts of India, especially in rural communities. Through awareness seminars in local schools and community centres, we aim to normalise periods so that girls can learn to treat menstruation as a normal and healthy part of life. We provide guidance to adolescent girls about how to manage their periods through interactive sessions, visual aids and educational materials. In many areas, we also engage with parents and teachers so that they can better educate young girls about menstruation.
Initiatives
Sanitary Pads Distribution
When girls and women have access to sanitary napkins, they can participate in school, engage socially and carry out daily activities with dignity. Through our Menstrual Health Program, we distribute sanitary napkins to adolescent girls and women in rural communities. According to UNICEF, around 23% of girls in India drop out of school once they reach puberty. When adolescent girls have access to sanitary napkins, school dropout rate decreases by 90%. It also increases the number of workdays for women by around 40-50 days per year which leads to significant increase in income.
Access to healthy menstrual hygiene products and awareness about how to safely manage periods can prevent many serious reproductive diseases, UTIs, hormonal imbalance and cervical cancer.
Women's Health Awareness Seminars
Besides distributing sanitary pads to underprivileged girls and women in rural communities, we organize informative and interactive seminars to raise awareness about women's health and gender equality. Menstruation is a highly stigmatized topic in many parts of India, especially in rural communities. Through awareness seminars in local schools and rural communities, we aim to normalise periods so that girls can learn to treat menstruation as a normal and healthy part of life. We provide guidance to adolescent girls about how to manage their periods through interactive sessions, visual aids and educational materials.
Besides spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene management, we also educate women about other health problems they may be facing such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and mental health issues. Through collaboration with doctors, gynaecologists and therapists, we educate women about symptoms, early detection and precautions that could prevent pain and diseases.
Partners
Sparkle Innovations
We are a social enterprise that exists to empower all women everywhere.
With Sparkle, we aim to revolutionize periods by providing natural and effective period products that are gentle to your skin and kind to the planet. Let's keep plastics and chemicals as far away from your body as possible.
We want to send a loud and clear message that your period is a natural process, as normal as eating or sleeping.
And talking about menstruation should never be considered a taboo. Your "that time of the month" is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, period is an essential part of all human life as it marks the beginning of womanhood.
We firmly believe that no girl or woman should miss an opportunity to reach her full potential at school or work because of lack of access to sanitary pads. With our "Buy One, Give One" initiative, every time you purchase a Sparkle pad, we donate a pad to a girl in need.
Never lose your sparkle!
