Social Taboo, Period!

Women in India have always been facing issues with sanitation. Be it the unavailability of healthy sanitary products or lack of awareness about the same. Social taboo connected to menstruation is acting as a wall for education. It has always been considered dirty and godless despite being natural. More than men, women are become a greater challenge to educate. Although, now, so many NGOs have taken up the responsibility to educate young girls and women about mensuration and menopause in order to maintain healthy standard of living even in the villages. Government of India have taken several initiatives to make sure that all the young girls are met with correct and timely sanitary needs as they grow up.

In the ancient times, the elders would recommend to use a cloth to absorb the blood. This however was not a preference for women in the urban areas because of low absorption of the thin cloth and other issues like stains and smell. Then came the regular sanitary pads, which were efficient in absorption, controlling the smell and leakage of the blood. Although these pads are

Is sanitation still the same issue as it were 50 years ago? Are women and girls in remote villages of India are still unable to meet healthy sanitary needs? Do we have infrastructure, to meet sanitary needs of all those 84% women? 60% out of these are diagnosed with internal infection in urinary and reproductive tracts. This is not only affecting women, but also the kids born to women with infection turn out to be having a weak physical development.

The question here is not just about availability of healthy menstruation or sanitary pads, but whether they are economical and environmentally sustainable. The studies say that a woman can produce 125 kilos of menstrual waste in terms of sanitary pads during their menstruating years. These pads are highly non-biodegradable and take over 500 years to decompose. This is an issue which has no solution except for biodegradable sanitary napkins.

Hemp Sanitary pads are a viable and affordable replacement for the existing sanitary pads. Hemp fabric is 3 times more absorbent than cotton. Hemp is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and carbon negative, which not only absorbs harmful toxins causing diseases like ovarian cancer and dysfunction in the reproductive tract.

Menstrual cups have now become a sensitive issue among working and travelling women. They have now become more comfortable with the cups than pads because of the feasibility and environment-friendliness. Access to accurate and pragmatic information has surely changed the perspective of the educated women. However, they still haven’t discovered any alternative and are conscripted to use plastic.

Hemp Sanitary pads will not only push out the non-biodegradable pads, but will also make it affordable. Its reusability feature will also make women more aware regarding the disposal of the menstrual waste.

Although menstrual cups have gained popularity among the working and travelling women, they are not so feasible for girls who have just been introduced to menstruation. They need pads in the initial stage to get used to the cycle, symptoms and how to get through that time of the month

Despite of so many conventions for women to educate them about menstruation, a huge chunk still remains unaware of the measures to be taken while menstruating.

Sustaining the environment has become a pop culture among youth. Disposal of plastic and synthetic material plays a major role in this entire proposal. Regular sanitary pads are not only difficult to dispose, but are also making a major mess with every fortnight that passes. Hemp Sanitary pads are synthetic and cotton free, which makes them reusable and easy to dispose.

Eradication of such a social taboo has now become a necessity more than need as it is affecting the generation that is to come. The fundamental to achieve this is to educate elder women as they are the first point of contact by the girls who are being introduced to menstruation. This will improve the living standards in the rural parts with respect to hygiene and bring out the long-lost practices of our ancestors.