Summary:
The Desai Foundation's Asani Sanitary Napkin Program takes a leading role in advancing menstrual health management (MHM) in underserved rural communities in India. This community-driven initiative, centered on women, seeks to eliminate the ingrained stigma surrounding menstruation by supplying eco-friendly sanitary napkins and promoting livelihood opportunities for women and girls.
The Challenge:
In rural India, the lack of menstrual hygiene education and products hinders women's health and education and reinforces gender inequalities. Menstruation is a highly stigmatized, critical, social, and health issue in rural India. Numerous women and girls in these regions lack access to sanitary pads, with the use of makeshift materials like rags often leading to infections and other serious illnesses. Consequently, it is common for girls to discontinue school attendance upon the onset of their periods. The pervasive stigma surrounding periods and the lack of proper resources not only impede access to proper healthcare but also limit opportunities for these individuals.
The Solution:
Our approach is comprehensive, involving the production of eco-friendly, biodegradable sanitary napkins coupled with an extensive MHM awareness campaign. We engage all community members, including boys and men, to support and understand the importance of menstrual hygiene.
The Asani sanitary napkin program trains women to manufacture and distribute, high-quality, low-cost sanitary napkins throughout their communities, empowering girls and women to take control over their health and livelihoods. The program enables girls to pursue higher education beyond the onset of menstruation, opening income-generating opportunities for women and enhancing their economic empowerment. Our solution attacks all facets of this huge issue: stigma, education, and access.
Lasting Impact:
Our brand of sanitary napkins is called Asani, which means “with ease” … because something so natural shouldn’t be so hard to take care of. Our program creates lifelong good habits that can have a major impact on the health of girls and women with our distinctive approach enabling women to engage in our program flexibly, embracing roles that resonate with them most.
We aspire to broaden our influence significantly, reaching and positively impacting millions more. This includes increasing the production of biodegradable sanitary napkins to meet growing demand, scaling up educational programs to foster financial independence and health awareness, and strengthening community ties to ensure menstrual health is not a barrier to opportunity. We work to cultivate dignity for those we serve so they can break free from the stigma of shame, stay in school, and participate in the workforce.
