May 28 is Menstrual Hygiene Day, and many NGOs, private sector and individuals have come together to celebrate and advocate the importance of good menstrual hygiene management. As per statistics, there are over 336 million menstruating girls and women in India, which totals to approximately 121 million used disposable sanitary pads. This number is a huge concern given the fact that it takes at least 500 to 800 years for a single sanitary pad to decompose. However, there is already a change happening on the urban front. Interesting social media campaigns are targeting both women and men to further boost the adoption rate.
#myperiodstory
Good Universe NGO (Insta: gooduniversengo) have started a campaign called #myperiodstory. It is about sharing a story that had a significant effect on you and how it changed your perspective on periods. “It is a campaign that we started with the belief that we should normalise the concept of menstruation, like we talk about fever. Through this campaign, we want everyone to share their period story, let it be good, bad, funny, embarrassing or eye opening,” says Kamal Nayak, founder of Good Universe NGO. “We also want to encourage men to come forward and share their story,” says Kamal. On why men, Kamal explains, “The reason why we are encouraging men is because we can truly break the stigma when men are also involved in this process.” Here, a girl can talk about her first period, helping out a stranger when in need, how it felt when they had a stain or when they explained menstruation to their male friends. A boy can talk about his puzzling experience when he saw his mother/sister/friend slowly taking out a pad and wrapping it in a paper, or when they were asked to buy sanitary items, their first biology class and so on.
#bleedyourway
Pee Safe, a personal hygiene and wellness brand, has launched #bleedyourway, an integrated campaign, marking Menstrual Hygiene Day. The bold campaign has offline and online elements and engages known faces including Kirti Kulhari, Sayani Gupta, among others. The campaign aims to break the taboo around menstruation and encourage women to #bleedyourway by choosing products they want to use. They are addressing themes including sex during periods, vaginal health, use of sustainable period care products, PMS, among others. The brand will also be distributing menstrual cups to underprivileged girls through an NGO. Speaking about this, Vikria, founder, Pee Safe said, “While cloth was used as an alternative, somewhere down the line, we switched to disposable but not-so-sustainable products. Now, while there is awareness, the need of the hour is integrated campaigns to help Indian women switch to better alternatives that are good for both the environment and their health.” The informative and personalized campaign will have various sessions, quirky discussions with influencers, Q &A with experts, as well as fun competitions.
Using art to make the switch
Nitisha Pandey who works for ‘Teach For India’ and ‘Care India’ is running a campaign by sharing the stories of people who’ve made the switch to using menstrual cups, and inspiring others to join the bandwagon. The two campaigns are an art campaign called ‘A Menstruator’s Canvas’ and ‘Green The Switch’. “The aim is to create dialogue on different perspectives of menstruation and challenge the shame and stigma associated with it,” says Nitisha. The art is in the form of photo essays that capture particular themes like ‘What if men got periods?’, ‘The waste created due to sanitary napkins’, ‘Premenstrual syndrome’, ‘The myths around menstruation’, ‘Periods in pandemic’ and ‘Sustainable menstrual products’. The other campaign is to create awareness about sustainable menstrual products like menstrual cups and reusable cloth pads which are cheaper, easier to use, healthier and eco-friendly alternatives to single use sanitary pads. The campaigns are running on Facebook: ‘The Bloody Feminist’ and on Instagram @thebloodyfeminist.