Biodegradable Sanitary Pads
In India, 23 million girls drop out of school every year due to a lack of awareness or support to tackle menstrual hygiene (Report by Dasra). Moreover, only 36% of India’s women use menstrual hygiene products (NFHS 2015-16), which amounts to 12 billion pads comprising of plastic waste annually.
We have provided biodegradable sanitary pads to 596 adolescent girls in the schools and colleges in the Palghar district of Maharashtra.
71% of girls in India remain unaware of menstruation until their first period (MHM program, UNICEF). Menstruation is still considered taboo, where women are viewed as impure and excluded from daily chores and religious activities. We conduct awareness sessions amongst girls to encourage them to be the agents of change in their community.
Story of Laxmi
Laxmi is a class 7 student in ashramshala at Dahanu. She says that she lives in a remote village and has to travel 15 kms on her bicycle to buy a pack of the sanitary napkin. If she is not able to go that far, she uses cloth as is used by her mother. Her mother asks her to stay in a separate room during her periods and not enter the kitchen or the puja room during those days. When we visited the school, we realized that the girls were shy of talking about menstruation and many of them didn’t know as to what changes their body undergoes during this time.
In India, 23 million girls drop out of school every year due to a lack of awareness or support to tackle menstrual hygiene.
Help us as spread the message of safe menstrual hygiene and encourage girls to use bio-degradable sanitary napkins.
