Sanitary Napkin Project

A donation has been made to Anandaniketan - Society for Mental Health Care, for the purchase of a Sanitary Napkin Machine

By making a nominal investment in the Sanitary Napkin Machine and employing around 4 women per machine, SHGs can empower women in marginalized communities, ensure accessibility and affordability of female health care products such as sanitary napkins to all women, especially those living below the poverty line.

Throughout the centuries, a plethora of cultural and social taboos have been associated with menstruating girls and women, as well as menstrual health. In many parts of the world, women are still not allowed to leave the confines of their homes while menstruating. Deemed "impure" and "unclean," they are not allowed to venture freely outside their homes. Thus, girls and women are deprived of opportunities in schools, workplaces, and social settings.

In addition, this lack of control over their lives puts women at loss when it comes to gaining information on cost-effective, affordable menstrual health products. Such women often resort to horrific means such as repeatedly using the same unsterilized cloth during menstruation, and using gunny bags or even plastic, instead of sanitary napkins. Due to these unhygienic preventative methods, women are prey to a host of illnesses and fatalities. For example, out of every 10,000 women in India, 2000 women die during childbirth due to unhygienic menstrual practices.

Although, there is a well-developed sanitary napkin industry in India, with major players such as Proctor & Gamble, and Johnsons & Johnsons, these sanitary napkins are often unaffordable to the millions of Indian women living in low-income and under-privileged communities. This is primarily due to the cost of the sanitary napkins resulting from the use of expensive machinery and huge profit margins by these brand name companies. Therefore, this paper focuses on a cost-effective sanitary napkin manufacturing machine through which women can produce and market bio-degradable sanitary napkins locally.