There is enough literature on how menstruation is a taboo, and how that fact adversely affects women’s and adolescent girls’ health in the country, but what has escaped our attention is how there are no well implemented or exemplary policies in place to address these concerns for effective Menstrual Hygiene Management. We thus launched the Right to Menstrual Health Project in 2018 to fill the gaps on varied fronts of the issue through effective policy action and advocacy for women’s and girls’ good health and well being in line with UN SDGs 3 & 5.
The lack of educated and responsive dialogue around menstruation turns it into a riddle for most young girls. Schools don’t plan demonstrative lectures that explain the hygienic usage of period products. This means that even if all women and girls have access to menstrual hygiene products, most of them won’t know how, when and why to use, replace and dispose of them. Additionally, making menstruation a policy concern, sensitizing varied groups (men, women, boys and girls) for community participation to mitigate myths surrounding MHM; all of which would together play an integral part in creating period friendly spaces for females and addressing period poverty has escaped India’s policy approach for a long time.
Project Interventions:
Advocacy through Actionable Research:
- “Period” of Change: Acknowledging the Right to Menstrual Health
- Assessing the Menstrual Health of Tribal Adolescent Girls in Gujarat
- Managing Menstrual Health in India: An Overview
- A Study on the Sexual and Reproductive Well Being in India
- Measuring the Status of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SDG 3) in India
- Right to Menstrual Health in India: From an Outdated Period Drama to Actionable Rights & Policies
Advocacy through Capacity Building for MHM Training & Education:
- Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Workshops in collaboration with Teach For India in the Sangam Vihar Village in the South Delhi District.
- MHM awareness-cum-training session for girls of Class 6th at the Adalaj Village in Gandhinagar District of Gujarat.
- MHM awareness-cum-training session for girls of Class 7th at the Adalaj Village in Gandhinagar District of Gujarat.
- MHM awareness-cum-training session for girls of Classes 7th and 8th at the Adalaj Village in Gandhinagar District of Gujarat.
- Workshop on Menstrual Health Education and Training Session for the female students of Gujarat National Law University
- Workshop on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for Male and Female Students of Gujarat National Law University
- Sensitisation and Skill Training Workshop on MHM, for the male and female students of Gujarat National Law University
Advocacy through Policy Action & Mass Mobilisation:
- Civic Architects: Right to Menstrual Health
- Need for Effective and Inclusive Menstrual Hygiene Management Policies in the NCT of Delhi
- The Policy Dialogue: Menstrual Health Management Policies in India
- Social Media Outreach
Project Impact & Your Role:
In the past we have launched a Crowdfunding Campaign to reach out to the adolescent girls in underprivileged schools, and to raise awareness among the urban population about the prevalent policy gap.
We have impacted more than 2,00,000 women and girls, and at least 3,00,000 youth through various aspects of our Project since its launch in 2018. As we continue to raise funds in our endeavour to make Right to Menstrual Health a reality in India through our Project, we constantly need your support in all our endeavours.
Your donations help us work on varied fronts of our Project to ensure supply of menstrual products to a large group of underprivileged women and girls, to ensure consistent advocacy and capacity building as well as to continue affirmative action for ending period poverty and mitigating taboos that adversely affect good MHM health for all women and girls. We thus urge you to continue supporting us through generous donations.
To donate for our Project, please visit this link.
Please write to us at [email protected], for any or all of the following:
- If you want to be a part of this Project
- If you know any individual or organisation that we should associate with to further our Project goals
- If you wish to share your ideas with us to enhance our Project’s outreach and impact
We look forward to your active participation and involvement in attaining the goal of making Right to Menstrual Health a reality for all women and girls in India.