Advancements in Menstrual Hygiene Management

Humans have always had the innate need for advancement, be it moral, social or technological. In Europe, the enlightenment period in the 18th century heralded an era of scientific and social revolution and was accompanied by the Industrial revolution.

The effects of that period continue into today, with more and more entrepreneurs emerging all around the globe to solve the problems plaguing humanity, with the intentions of creating a world that is better than the one they came into.

While the effects of these can be seen vividly in, for example, the field of telecommunications, Menstrual Hygiene Management hasn’t been left behind by this wave.

In this article, we’re going to list some of the advancements in MHM over the last many years and also provide a view of where the MHM space is headed!

MHM, much like all other spheres of social development, have seen great technological in-roads being made. Sanitary napkins, tampons and menstrual cups may have made their way into the Indian market only recently, yet they have actually been around for nearly hundreds of years!

This technological advancement has not occurred in a scientific vacuum; it has been accompanied by decades of advocacy by researchers, academicians and feminists.

This gradual change is best visible in India, where centuries of harmful traditional attitudes towards menstruators have been and continue to be challenged and cloth, rags and other harmful materials like sand, ash and leaves have been swapped for sanitary napkins and other safer alternatives.

Technology and Apps

With the advent of IT and software engineering, plenty of apps and technologies have been created to help menstruators with their periods. The kinds of apps and their functions are also varied and come with plenty of tools.

For example, period-tracking apps have become quite popular over the last decade and this is only bound to rise, especially in India, given the easy access of mobile internet and the influx of smartphones into the market.

Period trackers like Clue and Flo provide menstruators with a tech-based approach to manage periods while some apps even give out extra features like ovulation and fertility tracking, birth control tracking, emotion tracking and tracking sexual activity. They may also help those with PCOS.

Apps are also not the only way MHM is adopting technology going forwards. “Next-gen” products are changing the way menstruators understand and experience their periods. From simple tech-based tools to advanced consumer wearables, the market is becoming considerably more diverse and quite more interesting. Here are some cool things available in the market today:

Livia is an electronic wearable that “stimulates nerves to block pain”. This eliminates the need to take medicines and has no side effects. my.Flow is an attachment to your tampon that alerts you when your tampon is full! This can help prevent leakage or in a worst-case scenario, Toxic Shock Syndrome. This works using your smartphone via Bluetooth!

Economic Progress

Advancement in MHM is not just limited to tech. In many countries, activists have been fighting against what they call “period tax”, i.e. tax on menstrual products like sanitary napkins and tampons, despite these bodily processes being completely involuntary.

In many places, these unavoidable products are slapped with tariffs, luxury taxes, sales taxes as well as value-added taxes that range anywhere between 7% to 20%, resulting in considerable side effects for women and girls who cannot afford these products as a result of high taxes. Girls have reported missing school and losing out on education due to expensive sanitary products.

The good news is that the outlook on taxing these products is changing. Many states in the US as well as many countries around the world including Ireland, Rwanda, Colombia and Canada now have no period taxes, while countries like Germany have slashed the rates on these products.

As of 2020, Scotland became the first country in the world to provide “universal access to free period products” with their The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act, thereby ensuring that no one is left without access to these products as and when they need them!

Closer to home, the news is quite good. In 2018, after lots of activism and protests, the 12% GST on menstrual hygiene products was scrapped, thereby making them considerably more accessible to the general public! This is a small step towards realizing the goal of a time where women and girls don’t have to miss work and school on account of menstruation.

Social Entrepreneurship

Lastly, social entrepreneurs from all around the world are working hard to dismiss stereotypes surrounding menstruation and improve access to menstrual hygiene goods in their countries.

In Bangladesh, Resurgence is a social enterprise that created biodegradable sanitary pads out of water hyacinth, a plant that grows widely in the country. In the United States, the organization Period, works to distribute pads, cups and tampons to those in need, and also advocates for abolishment of the period tax. In Africa, AFRIpads works to improve menstrual health, hygiene and accessibility for “millions” across Africa. In Ghana, Save the Red Days is an initiative that works towards education and advocacy around menstrual health. These are only a few organisations among thousands that are all working towards this goal!

At Project Baala, we offer a systemic solution which focuses on providing accessibility of reusable pads, awareness modules and generates livelihood opportunities which makes it a 360-degree model focusing on the rural masses where 70% of India’s population resides.

Currently, we are working on a new product with our technological partners that has been designed to be hygienic and reusable as quickly as possible. They have been created using hydrophobic material and you can manage your entire period on one single pad for five years! We hope to launch the product in a few months and we will keep the suspense on it until we are ready to launch!

This Menstrual Hygiene Day, we are inspired by all of the innovations and developments around us in the MHM space!

About the Author — Drupad is an intern with Project Baala. When he isn’t working, you will probably find him cooking, reading a book or petting his neighbour’s cat.