• Menstrual Health Project aims at encouraging the use of reusable products

An 8 March policy brief by Advocata found a 27-31% price increase of imported sanitary products and an 86-94% price increase of locally manufactured sanitary products in Sri Lanka between April 2021 and February 2024. The policy brief pointed out that approximately four million Sri Lankans have descended into poverty since 2019, making the total number of Sri Lankans living in poverty approximately seven million.

“Therefore, it is necessary to examine the ramifications of the lack of affordability of sanitary napkins which is worsened by the imposition of high taxes on sanitary napkins,” the policy brief noted.

It is in this context that the Menstrual Health Project, sponsored by Global Hand Charity in conjunction with Emflower, is being launched in Sri Lanka. The project aims to address the critical issues surrounding period poverty faced by school students in Sri Lanka, and will commence as a pilot project this month with a plan to distribute reusable menstrual underwear made from natural materials that have a positive environmental impact in comparison to disposable products such as sanitary pads and tampons.

According to Emflower, approximately 550 students across 10 schools will receive a menstrual health kit, including two pairs of bamboo period underwear and an educational guide about menstruation and sanitation products.

Giving The Daily Morning Brunch a better idea of the project was Global Hand Charity Director Mark Horwood, Emflower Managing Director Jessica Ross, and Edith Cowan University (ECU) psychology graduate Makayla, who collectively responded to our inquiries.

Objectives

While the Menstrual Health Project will distribute reusable period underwear, it will also be distributing informational guides that promote menstrual hygiene and menstrual cycle education developed by ECU psychology students in their Practical Programme.

“The objective of this project is to provide students with the adequate resources and information for menstruation so they do not need to miss school because they have their period. Increasing their school attendance will improve the quality of their education and prevent them from falling behind,” the project partners said.

When asked if there are any specific communities or regions the project will be targeting, the team shared that the pilot programme will be initially conducted in three schools in Badulla. “Following discussions with Rotary International’s District Governor Pubudu De Zoysa, this region contained schools with students from poor communities who were suffering from period poverty and would greatly benefit from this programme,” they explained.

Partners

The project is sponsored by Global Hand Charity, which has completed seven volunteer optometric missions to rural areas of Sri Lanka in the past, and Rotary Club of Mill Point. While Horwood will be managing the project and volunteering during it, Ross will be managing the project and consulting on menstrual underwear manufacturing and educating students. Meanwhile, Makayla will be playing the role of project volunteer and student educator and Rotary Club of Badulla will be assisting with the liaison to the school principals, teachers, and language translators.

The Affinity Foundation will be facilitating the project as well, and said they were working with the team on the manufacturing of reusable menstrual underwear in Sri Lanka using 90% locally sourced material while supporting the handloom industry in Sri Lanka with the use of environmentally sustainable bamboo fabrics.

Increasing awareness

The team explained that a potential barrier that they may face is the hesitancy of women in Sri Lanka to use a product that is unfamiliar to them. “To overcome this, we must be culturally sensitive to the traditional customs surrounding menstruation in the country, whilst assuring women in Sri Lanka that this product is commonly used as a mainstream product in Australia, and has been tried and tested by millions of women across the globe,” the team said, adding that currently, the global market value of period underwear is $ 145 million. According to Future Market Insights 2023, this is expected to reach $ 490 million by 2033.

The project partners elaborated on the importance of increasing awareness, saying it is important for girls and women to have accurate information about menstruation to not only reduce the risk of infections from using unsafe and unclean items, but to also destigmatise the shame associated with menstruation. “It is imperative that young girls feel comfortable talking with their teachers and medical professionals about their health questions to prevent serious health problems. According to the United Nations, 66% of girls are not aware of menstruation until their first period, which can cause serious psychological distress at a young age,” they added.

Giving us an idea about the local context, the Menstrual Health Project partners said: “The recent government update providing sanitary products to female students in improvised conditions is a welcome initiative and positive step towards improving menstrual health in Sri Lanka.”

They added that the economic crisis has posed significant challenges to Sri Lankan women and girls in rural areas with 25% of Sri Lankans living below the poverty line, as per the United States Institute of Peace. “As Sri Lanka applies a 43% tax on imported menstrual hygiene products, 70% of females do not have access to proper menstrual hygiene products (Goluhewage 2023) and 40% have stopped using them all together because of the economic downturn (Ada Derana 2024).”

The team went on to say that according to the Sri Lankan Government, out of the four million student population, 1.2 million are menstruating school girls. “On the basis that these school students use an average of three sanitary napkins per day while menstruating for five days, approximately 324 million kilos of menstrual waste will end up in landfills per year – not to mention the high amount of disposable plastic waste from sanitary napkin packaging also going into landfills.”

Project phases

The local context regarding period poverty and the need to turn to sustainable menstrual products  set the foundation for the project, which was broken down into three one-year phases in the project proposal.

“During the first phase of the project, we are visiting several schools to undertake educational workshops to demonstrate how to use the product and explain the leak proof technology built within the material design. To address any fears or hesitation towards using a new product, we will explain that reusable menstrual panties are a mainstream product in many other countries and are commonly worn by women of menstrual age,” the project partners said.

They added that the ‘Menstruation Educational Guide’ will address the students’ understanding of their menstrual cycle, including the importance of sanitation and how to wash and care for the period underwear correctly to ensure longevity of the product and to maintain proper hygiene. “We are teaching the students to rinse, scrub, wash (either in a machine or hand wash), and dry the panties in the sunshine so they can be reused again and again to last up to four years,” the team said.

During the second phase of the project, the team plans to assist with the setup of local manufacturing, distribution, sales, and marketing of the reusable products. “This would see the employment of local women with skills in the textile industry and the creation of micro-businesses to manufacture and distribute the product into the Sri Lankan market owned by Sri Lankan locals.”

When asked what they hoped the project would achieve by the third year, the partners said: “We would love to see the government adding sustainable initiatives such as subsidies or allowances for switching to reusable products in a step towards reducing the amount of menstrual waste in landfills.”

The team added: “Our future objective is to form partnerships with government organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and educational institutions to ensure compliance with Sri Lankan laws and regulations and to increase awareness in each region of the country.”