Project- DHARTI ( Degradable Hygiene Management and Recycling Training Initiative )

‘Period Poverty’

About 336 million girls/women experience menstruation in India, out of which approximately 121 million use disposable sanitary napkins. In India, only 36% of women/girls have access to safe menstrual hygiene products. The rest of these women (64%) are at risk of developing serious health problems as a result of using several homegrown alternatives, such as hay, dried leaves, old rugs, ashes and used clothes during their periods. Report attached here.

The first challenge is that more than 64% of women and girls in India do not have access to safe menstrual hygiene products to manage menstruation, these women /girls are suffering from poor menstrual hygiene practices because they cannot afford the cost of menstrual products due to economic reasons. This particular condition is defined as ‘Period Poverty’

About the program

What the beneficiary gets:

• Counseling about the use of menstrual cup
• Menstrual Cup

An hygienic life around the time of menstruation means less diseases and health concerns for students of all ages, women farmers, daily laborers and housewives in these rural pockets of the country. 

From ‘Kapda’ to ‘Cup’

The Change Agents Movement, Lal Sakhi’s plan of action to bring about a qualitative shift in the lives of women in corners of rural/tribal India; through aiding in enhancing menstrual hygiene. Though discussions have been long going on the issue, there still is a lot of ground to cover to bring parity in the lives of these women vis-a-vis menstrual hygiene.

Through this movement, our change agents (community influencers) who become resource persons that share their experience of using hygienic menstrual products with other rural women and motivate and train them to use the same. The Agents provide free counseling and menstrual cups to women who can not afford it. In Kharpa, Bhopal we have helped create a hygiene culture where more than 90% Rural women are using sustainable and environment-friendly menstrual cups made of medical grade silicon. This framework is self-sustaining as the people who are internal to these societies are initiating the change and therefore this requires just firing up the momentum.

A menstrual cup is a type of reusable feminine hygiene product. It’s a small, flexible funnel-shaped cup made of medical grade rubber or silicone that one uses during menstruation. Cups can hold more blood than other methods, leading many women to use them as an eco-friendly alternative to tampons; thus becoming a far better economical and environment friendly option overall; and would be well suited to rural life where income flows are more agri-dependent.

To help reach our goal of better menstruation hygiene, we wish to increase the adoption of menstrual cups amongst women in the rural parts of the country.