Help Rural Indian Women Fight Period Poverty, Donate Sanitary Pads This Daan Utsav

India, the world's largest democracy. The world’s second-most populous country. Even then, period is a big taboo and thousands of girls and women do not have access to sanitary napkins and other hygiene products. On an ordinary day, an adolescent girl might think twice about going out and purchasing a sanitary napkin. 

More than 23 million adolescent girls drop out of school annually due to a lack of proper menstrual hygiene management facilities, which include the availability of sanitary napkins and logical awareness of menstruation. 

- Spot On, Dasra 2014 

The ground reality

The pandemic and the lockdown has also led to a severe scarcity of sanitary napkins as many factories had to shut down. India’s home to more than 190 million families in which the parents are daily wage labourers. They earn a meager income and live in deplorable conditions. Women in such families have been the worst hit in this situation.

Not being able to access sanitary napkins affected the hygienic conditions of these women, making them vulnerable to various diseases and menstrual infections. The issues could be anywhere from cervical rare condition, Reproductive Tract Infections, Hepatitis B infection, various types of yeast infections to Urinary Tract Infections. 

The National Family Health Survey estimates that of the 336 million menstruating women in India about 215 million (roughly 58 percent) women don’t have access to sanitary napkins.

Many mothers are unaware of what practices could be considered as menstrual hygiene management. They cannot educate their daughters. Schools had never been very helpful either as those in rural areas refrain from discussing menstrual hygiene.

How can you Help

Amidst this condition, millions of women don’t have access to proper sanitation facilities. We urge you to donate a sanitary napkin. These sanitary napkins will be distributed among the poorest of the poor marginalized communities.

This Daan Utsav, let’s change a girl’s life. Donate a sanitary napkin, donate a dream for her. 

Beneficiary NGOs:

1. Aarudhra Women Welfare Foundation: 

This Mumbai-based NGO has been working extensively for women’s welfare and education, social justice, women's protection, children's development, self-defense training, empowerment of women acid attack survivors, and menstrual hygiene. 

2. Sphoorti Foundation :

Spoorthi Foundation: Sphoorti Foundation is a non-profit organization working for underprivileged children - orphaned, abandoned, destitute, and other vulnerable groups. Their mission is to change the lives of such children - by providing them with long-term care. This includes basic needs, education and healthcare, and skills necessary to transform them into responsible citizens. During the pandemic, they’re helping the most vulnerable sections of society get access to grocery kits.