On a global level, at least 500 million women and girls lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management. More than 77% of menstruating women in India use an old cloth, which is often reused, ashes, newspapers, dried leaves and husk sand during periods.

Period Poverty ( defined as the lack of menstrual awareness and an inability to access necessary sanitary material) is widespread. Moreover, the taboos and stigmas attached to menstruation lead to an overall culture of silence around the topic and a study revealed that 52% of girls were unaware of menstruation before attaining menarche, leading to a large number of girls dropping out of schools, shying away from visiting pharmaceutical to buy period products etc.

I'm Sabreen C A, a volunteer from  Hamari Pahchan NGO, striving for a better menstrual hygiene for the underprivileged. It interests me because menstrual health is not just a women’s issue but a public health challenge. I want to educate people on the topic and stop the normalization of silence on the issue and help the underprivileged women of society to have a proper menstrual hygiene.

After conducting a survey in the slums, it was discovered that there are women who are suffering from various problems including reproductive and urinary tract infections due to non-maintenance of their menstrual health.