Help hyphenates with hygiene, eco-care: cloth sanitary pads for poor women

The lack of availability of sanitary napkins has been a very stressful reality for lakhs of women across the country. More so, in a time of crisis. The Covid-19 situation is no different.

Understanding the plight of thousands of women from underprivileged communities, particularly migrant families, the Bengaluru chapter of Green the Red, a pan-India campaign, which comprises healthcare professionals and eco-activists, has been distributing cloth sanitary pads to them.

This aligns with the campaign’s aim to help women make the switch to sustainable menstrual products, mainly menstrual cups.

With the help of cloth pad manufacturers, they have been working to provide sanitary pads to as many women as possible. The team has collaborated with the police through the backing of Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and DCP Nisha James.

So far, about 400 kits of cloth pads, each kit consisting of five pads with one backing pad, have been distributed through police, among women in Bandepalya, Malleswaram and Mahadevapura.

“Using menstrual cups for the first time requires a little bit of hand-holding. To respect the guidelines of social distancing, we did not go there physically. Hence, we couldn’t explain and help them with using menstrual cups,” says Meenakshi Bharath, a member of Green the Red campaign.

Sana, a constable at Bandepalya police station, says that along with distributing food packets and rations, they try to help the migrant community in their vicinity with whatever essentials possible.

When they were briefed about the efforts of Green the Red by DCP Nisha, they contacted them and distributed the cloth pads to some 200 women in their areas.

“With the rations, their food needs for two months will be taken care of. But these pads, if maintained properly, can be used for up to 36 months. And, they don’t have to worry about disposal and discomfort,” adds Smitha Kulkarni who is associated with the movement.

Their effort is supported by the non-profit Give India and the Rotary club.

The members of the campaign hold sessions on Zoom for corporates and schoolchildren about sustainable menstrual products.