Eliminating Period Poverty, across countries

Period poverty is a challenge not just of the developing world, but developed countries too. On a positive note though, each is finding its own way of tackling it. In India, tax on sanitary napkins was removed recently and much effort has been made to break the taboo around a discussion on the matter. Producers and retailers of these sanitary products in the UK are also creating greater awareness on this subject, besides making a contributiont to eliminating it.

In a revision of tax rates under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Government of India de-taxed sanitary products from the earlier rate of 12%, a hard won victory in the concerted drive towards ensuring that necessities remain free from taxation.  In a country where girls drop out of schools on puberty on account of being unable to afford menstrual products, this is a step in the right direction.

It remains to be seen whether sanitary product prices will indeed fall as a result, since the manufacturers can no longer avail of the input tax credit for taxes already paid at various stages of production of the end good. But that is the next question. For now, a first breakthrough has been achieved. And with no small effort. 

Activists have been campaigning for a removal of taxes on these sanitary products and/or providing them for free where required. Low-cost sanitary napkins developed in India have also been hailed, to the extent that Arunachalam Muruganantham, who took great pains to produce them, is now an Indian hero. He talked about his arduous journey through this process in a TED talk a few years ago and has been covered worldwide for his work. 

Earlier this year, Bollywood made a mainstream Hindi film based on his experience called ‘Padman’.

All these efforts have gone towards reducing period poverty in India, and the rest of the world has taken notice too. Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, wrote a piece in the Time magazine early last year about period poverty in India. For their wedding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted for contributions to chosen charities in the place of wedding gifts, and one of the chosen charities was Myna Mahila Foundation, that educates on menstrual hygiene in India and also employs women in urban slums in the country to make inexpensive sanitary napkins.

The UK itself, though, is grappling with the challenge too.

It is estimated that 137,000 girls across the UK skip school on a regular basis since they are unable to afford menstrual products. Viewing a recent advertisement by sanitary napkin producer Always brought home this aspect to me. The advertisement is aimed at encouraging the viewer to purchase the brand, since a part of proceeds are earmarked for reducing the existence of period poverty. 

Another organisation dealing with the same issue in the UK is Tesco. As a regular shopper at Tesco,a few months ago, I came across a sign at the store that made me a loyal customer. It so happens, that the chain decided to absorb the 5% tax on sanitary products by absorbing it on its own account. Needless to say, this is a great business move, because it ensures greater footfall and hence greater potential revenue. Presumably, the cost-benefit analysis would show a bias towards the latter as a result of this strategy. No one says that Tesco should take a hit on its returns by being socially conscious, but in de-taxing necessities it plays a part in creating a more equitable society. 

There is of course a lot that still needs to be done around the world to ensure that period poverty gets eliminated. These are examples of just two countries, albeit at very different stages of development from one another. But the first steps involve breaking the silence around it, creating greater awareness and taking targeted actions to counter it. Hopefully, the results will show up too.