Period Poverty

My father is a strong believer of the holy trinity and says that the combination of the three are crucial to making the world a better place. But the holy trinity in this case is women and children’s health, nutrition, and education. In order for a society to be successful, you need to invest in women. Without taking care of their health, it makes it difficult for them to even get to school. As put by The Pad Project, a period should end a sentence, not a girl's education.

Period Poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products because of financial constraint. The taboo surrounding this menstruation and lack of access to sanitary products in developing countries isolates and shames women for their natural bodies. Because there is limited health education on this topic, women are not provided with the proper tools to handle their period and many girls end up missing at least 20% of the school year or end up dropping out all together (Femme International). In India, it is common for girls in villages to only study until they are in middle school and get their period. It becomes very challenging after that. Without sanitary products girls cannot change their clothes in the middle of the day. They use cloth instead of absorbent disposable products. Men taunt girls for having to change in the middle of the day, and the combination of discomfort and embarrassment drives women away from school. Without access to education, these women cannot advance into developed careers and as a result they stay in domestic roles. Without financial independence they often turn to marriage, and this cycle of oppression continues.

Many countries discuss the issues of girls dropping out of school due to their periods. The Oscar-winning documentary, Period. End of Sentence (2018), showcases Indian women fighting the stigma surrounding menstruation and begin manufacturing sanitary pads. A man in India named Arunachalam Muruganatham who, dismayed by the lack of access women in his country had to sanitary pads, invented a low-cost sanitary pad machine–despite his own wife leaving him and being shunned by his community in the process. The film follows the installation of a machine in a small village called Kathikera, located in the Hapur District in Delhi. Many of the girls there had either dropped out of school, or had missed so much class time due to their periods that they probably would never graduate. The young women in Kathikera were eager to receive a machine.

This film captured the subsequent growth in the community of Kathikera. It featured a group of women coming together to manufacture low cost and environmental friendly menstrual pads for the community, and captured their first experiences of financial independence. After the machine had been installed and operating for six months, there were not only open conversations about menstruation in classrooms, community demonstrations about how their pads worked, but the women in Kathikera found empowerment.

The documentary properly showcased how to combat the stigma of menstruation and provide women with liberation. It created a space for women in the village to have their own business of making and selling sanitary pads, and by raising awareness in the United States through an Oscar win, The Pad Project will surely be provided the capital to expand its efforts to more communities. The more people who learn about the issue, the more money can be raised for machines around the world–thus more girls will stay in school, graduate, go to work, and improve their country’s GDP.

The Pad Project and Murunganatham's machine provides a light at the end of the tunnel that we call Period Poverty. Economic empowerment for women helps the country too. Something as small as providing women with sanitary pads can change the course of history, and unlock potential within these women and the countries. With a higher count in the workforce, and a more educated one at that, these countries can progress and develop into stronger nations.

Though the stigma of menstruation is prominent in developing countries, menstruation is a taboo topic all around the world–including the United States. We claim to be progressive and inclusive, but may find ourselves in moments where we feel the opposite. Even though the United States is in a place of privilege compared to developing communities, there exists a stigma within our own progressive society.

Menstrual hygiene is a right––it should not be considered a luxury. The expensive price of pads and tampons affects women locally and globally. This hinders their ability to contribute properly when they cannot accommodate their natural bodies. To empower women and communities at large, the first step is to make sure that they have access to sanitary products.

Resources

Period. End of Sentence (2018) is an oscar-winning Netflix short documentary, and highlights the impact of women’s health on women’s education and how focus on the two can lead to a prosperous society.

The Pad Project - thepadproject.org

Period - period.org

By Anushka Joshi