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Some Facts

Less than 20% of women and girls in India have access to or use menstrual products like pads.

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Background Information/Statistics: 

  • About 355 million menstruators in India 

  • 93 million adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) need menstrual products 

  • 90% of women and girls in rural areas rely on old, unsanitary clothing items to use instead of a pad 

  • In rural areas, 71.4% of women (15-24 years) use cloth and 33.6% use sanitary napkins and 14.8% use locally prepared napkins

  • Urban vs. Rural Areas Statistics: 

    • 21% of AGYW only use homemade cloth products 

    • More than 50% of AGYW in rural areas only use homemade cloth products

    • 90% of women and girls use menstrual products in Tamil Nadu and 49.5% in Maharashtra 

    • 0% in rural Gujarat and 63% in rural Karnataka

Stories - From the Perspective of girls in rural India 

“We don't like sanitary pads as they spoil our clothes.”
“Sanitary pads need to be changed more frequently.”
“If we throw away the used pad in an open place and a snake sees it, it will become blind and we may become infertile”.

Sometimes, menstruators HAVE access to menstrual products, but they don't use them... Why is this?

  • What causes inadequate usage of menstrual products in (rural India), and how does this affect menstruators who live there? 

    • Causes: 

      • Lack of Access 

      • Financial Instability 

      • Taboo/Mindsets

      • Disposability 

      • Lack of Education

    • Effects: 

      • Health issues

      • School & Work Absenteeism 

      • Environmental Effects

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Sources

Vogel, Wren, et al. “Gender and Sanitation: Women's Experiences in Rural Regions and

     Urban Slums in India.” MDPI, https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/12/1/18.

     Accessed 28 July 2022.

“Expanding Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products in India.” PSI,

     https://www.psi.org/publication/expanding-access-to-menstrual-hygiene-product

     -in-india/. Accessed 29 July 2022. 

MENSTRUAL HEALTH IN INDIA: AN UPDATE,

     https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00W863.pdf. Accessed 29 July 2022.

View of School Absenteeism During Menstruation Among Rural Adolescent Girls in

     Pune, https://www.njcmindia.com/index.php/file/article/view/1498/1213. Accessed

     29 July 2022.

     “:´(.” YouTube, 19 April 2021, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jid.3266.

     Accessed 29 July 2022. 

Kishor, Sunita, and Kamala Gupta. “Menstrual Health in India | Country Landscape

     Analysis.” Menstrual Hygiene Day, 

     https://menstrualhygieneday.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/FSG-Menstrual-Health-Landscape_India.pdf.Accessed 29 July 2022.

“About 50 percent of women aged 15-24 years still use cloth for menstrual protection: NFHS-5.” ThePrint, 11 May 2022,

     https://theprint.in/india/about-50-per-cent-of-women-aged-15-24-years-still-use-cloth-for-menstrual-protection-nfhs-5/951362/. Accessed

     28 September 2022.

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