Time to break taboos

According to a World Bank report, on any given day, more than 300 million women worldwide are menstruating. In total, an estimated 500 million lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM).

Talking about menstruation is not easy in any country or any culture. The stigma attached with the word ‘menstruation’ is here since ages. “In some countries, menstruating women continue to be viewed as ‘contaminated and impure’, often restricted and forbidden to engage in activities like touching water or cooking, attending religious and cultural ceremonies or other community activities,” says a UN report.

Cultural practices, religious beliefs and social myths make it difficult for both men and women to talk about menstruation. Lack of information, separate latrine facilities, menstrual hygiene products, poor management and disposal of these products further exasperates the situation for women and girls.

Accessing affordable MHM products

The other day I went to buy sanitary pads from a local market, I was furious and shocked to know that one pack of pads costs around 750/ and a normal pack of tampons is 900/. The rise in sanitary products is so alarming.

Globally, people are introducing policy interventions on menstrual hygiene management and here we are still drenched in political wars, inter-political party disputes, long marches and do not pay attention to basic issues. Our government is still not addressing the issue of removing the pink tax from menstrual hygiene management products; instead we are increasing the prices of sanitary products. Accessing affordable MHM products is women’s biological right, yet we are making it more difficult and miserable for women who are not privileged enough to afford even basic necessities of life.

Women in urban areas are well informed and somehow can afford to buy sanitary napkins but, think of women in rural areas and women living in slum areas. How women in slums are coping with the situation of menstruation? Women who can barely afford necessities of life, buying expensive sanitary pads must be out of their reach. What do they do for sanitation during periods? These questions led me towards interrogating women of slums in Lahore about their menstrual hygiene management. Slum areas are characterised by drastic overcrowding, poverty, unhygienic living conditions, lack of safe drinking water, poor quality of shelter which include sometimes 1-2 bathrooms for the whole community of 50-100 people, lack of street lighting, etc. Neglecting to wash hands right after changing pads, disposing off pads in a right way, lack of basic services like toilets and availability of clean sanitary products are absent in slum areas.

Challenges faced by women living in slums:

According to World Bank’s most recent survey in 2020, 56 per cent of the Pakistan’s urban population is living in slums. My visit to some of the slums in my city Lahore was an eye-opening experience as it unfolded some shocking truths. I met Sajida, who was married at an early age and has two children. “I have been using dumped pads which are in good condition since many years. I am compelled to use them as I cannot afford to buy new expensive pads,” revealed Sajida.

Another girl Sadia, shared more or less the same experience. “We are used to this lifestyle since ages. We sometimes use rags and sometimes wear used pads which we find in a reusable condition while collecting garbage. Sometimes we even use newspaper as we do not need to wash it and can throw it anywhere,” told Sadia. It’s really sad to know that women in slums are unaware of the effects of poor hygiene. Women in slums are least bothered about keeping themselves clean during periods. They are completely ok with wearing used pads. They have no clue of changing pads after right intervals. There is lack of private facilities for changing pads.

Women in slums live an unhygienic life. They simply cannot afford sanitary products and instead they resort to using old rags and used pads, which can cause different infections such as hepatitis, yeast infection, and different sexually transmitted diseases which are dangerous for both men and women. As per different studies, it is necessary to change pads every 3-4 hours to prevent bad odour and forming of bacteria.

One of the most important issues faced by women in slums is the matter of their privacy. Sharing toilets with men during periods is devastating for them. Some women complained about men not giving them any chance to wash themselves during their special days. The National Urban Slum profile indicated the fact that 31 per cent of the toilet facilities were gender mixed presented a ‘cultural barrier for females for easy use’. The concept of community toilets which are male and female combined in slums is the main reason for the insecurity of women during periods. During an interview, a woman uttered about the privacy issue during periods. “Men of our society harass us when we sometimes change the pad in our community toilets which are combined. Men also harass us when they see the rags we put under the sun to dry, which is quite humiliating for us,” she elucidated. Another woman shared, “Since we do not even have doors to secure our privacy, a lot of men from nearby places sneak at night with bad intentions. We do not have toilets so we have to go in the meadows nearby early for passing faeces.”

Good practices across the world:

Over the years, several changes have been seen globally when it is about elimination of pink tax. New Zealand passed a legislation that ensures access to free sanitary products for anyone across the country in the regime of PM Jacinda Arden. Scotland was first in the world to make period products free for all. Scottish Government unanimously approved periods products free for all bill in November 2020. It was passed due to the hard work of Monica Lennon, a member of the Scottish Parliament, who has been campaigning to end period poverty since 2016. Spain is one of those countries who introduced three days period paid leave for women. Also in Nepal, VAT has been removed from locally made sanitary products.

There are several economic issues which are being addressed when it comes to feminist movements and many of them pertain to gender wage gap, harassment at workplace etc. but similar phenomena such as removing pink tax from sanitary products is considered secondary in Pakistan. We are taking the rollercoaster ride of globalisation along the world but we are lagging far behind when it comes to following good practices.

What needs to be done?

After scrutinising menstrual hygiene conditions of women in slums of Lahore, I deduce that in slums women have menstrual products accessibility issues. Women usually consume locally made pads or rags to soak menstrual blood and some used pads from garbage as they have no other choice. Women are quite ignorant about disposing off sanitary pads and due to narrow spaces in slums, families do not have the facility of disposing off the menstrual pads so they throw the pads as a domestic waste around the spaces they live.

Until and unless period poverty will not be considered as a bottom-line issue government will not pay heed. There is no single policy related to menstruation in Pakistan. NGOs are only focused on distribution side but we need a strong policy on removing pink tax to make it affordable to the general public. According to a UN report, there is a deep-rooted inequality in Pakistan where overall richest 20 per cent of the people hold 49.6 per cent of the national income, compared with the poorest 20 per cent who hold just 7 per cent. This inequality also demonstrated the percentage of women who lacks access to menstrual hygiene products available in the market. Since there is a huge gender wage gap in Pakistan and women earn less than men, the imposition of pink tax is a burden on women. As urbanisation has many good impacts on women such as providing them greater social, economic and political opportunities and better life standards, at the same time slums are facing a lot of challenges such as poor air quality, insufficient water availability and waste disposal problems. Removing Pink Tax from all the menstrual hygiene products will ultimately benefit women of every social class. As overcrowding slums are more prone to wider spread of diseases, unused affordable pads can prevent them from different diseases. These problems need to be highlighted as we all have the right to live a better and healthy life.

To effectively manage their menstruation, girls and women require access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, affordable and appropriate menstrual hygiene materials, information on good practices, and a supportive environment where they can manage menstruation without embarrassment or stigma.

WHAT IS PINK TAX?

* Gender-based price disparities are known as pink taxes.

* The pink tax has long imposed an economic burden on women - especially since women continue to earn less than men.

* The United Nations has called on countries to eliminate the pink tax to ensure women have full and equal access to economic participation.

* Men and women often buy similar day-to-day products. But research shows that consumer products targeted and advertised to women are sometimes more expensive than comparable products marketed to men. This disparity is referred to as so-called pink tax.

* Gender-based price disparities are prevalent in several sectors, but one of the most visible is personal care products. These include, for example, soaps, lotions, razor blades and deodorants that are marketed specifically to either women or men.

* Efforts are underway to curb the pink tax. In fact, the United Nations has called on countries worldwide to take steps to eliminate the pink tax to ensure women achieve full and equal participation in the economy.

* As part of understanding the pink tax, researchers and policymakers also examine the imposed costs of products necessary for women to buy that are not necessary for men, like tampons.

Advocates have long worked to lower or eliminate taxes on tampons and other feminine sanitary products, recognising the burden they place on women - especially those on lower-incomes. Several countries - including Australia, Canada, India, and Rwanda, among others - have eliminated taxes on tampons and other feminine products.

-Compiled

Naidah Aqeel, MPhil Public Policy, writes on health and social issues. She can be reached at i_naidah