Did you know?
- Only 12% of women use sanitary napkins in India.
- Continuous reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and urinary tract infections (UTIs), the most common health hazard associated with using traditional methods for menstruation, pose life-threatening, long-term health consequences including increased risk of cervical cancer.
- 90% of women in rural India work in the informal labor market. Formal work opportunities, while limited due to the nature of the Indian labor market, have been proven to improve the health status of women and their children, improve dietary and health practices, and strengthen measures of agency and resource control.
- 40% of girls in countries where menstrual hygiene is an extreme social taboo do not attend school during their period.
Cultural Perspectives
Menstrual Hygiene
- The Taboo of Menstruation, by Rose George, New York Times (Dec. 28, 2012)
- India Sanitation Portal - Menstrual Hygeine
- "The Indian Tampon King- A Man in a Women's World"
- Adolescent girls launch a guidance booklet on Menstrual Hygiene Management in India
- The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health
- GOONJ- Turning Urban Clothe Waste into Reusable Pads for Rural Poor: A Delhi Based NGO that targets older women and sells washable pads in low-cost packs of five
- A must read: If Men Could Menstruate, by Gloria Steinum