SafePad: Supporting young girls and women in India
Have you ever thought about how women and girls below the poverty line, get through the periods? What kind of products or solutions do they have in their societies? Does it create any issues? is it worth to bother with this topic?
We can say yes, no and it depends. If we focus on the taboos surrounding this topic, we can see that this topic is not easy going to respond to. It is still hard to talk about and address. However, if we focus on well-being and education, we see that girls, due to their biological nature, experience consequences which translate to their quality of life.
In fact, studies shows that the no. 1 reason for teenage girls in rural India to miss school days is due to their menstruation periods, on average, 4 days a month. This is mostly due to lack of access to sanitary napkins and infrastructure, combined with a strong cultural taboo. Furthermore, the current products on the market are expensive for a regular rural family. Girls often use old cloths, or something similar, which is risky in terms of health and safety.
This is something that we at Periamma wish to change. We beleive that every girl and young woman should have access to affordable menstrual pads, as this will both reduce the risk of infections, as well as increase the social equality, ensuring that they can attent school.
One solution to this is the Safepad, which was invented by our partner, Real Relief, a Danish company that is working with many NGOs around the world
In the beginning of 2023, we therefore went together with Real Relief in order to build a local SafePad production facility in India.
Today, we have succeeded with this goal and have already produced over 700 Safepads for young girls to use.
With a local production facilities, employing women in the sewing and packaging units, we will improve:
● Employment of local women allowing them to generate a sustainable income
● Secure sustainable supply chain through local production
● Large reduction in sanitary napkin waste
● An affordable solution for the rural families
● Local involvement and capacity building
● Better education and life quality for the girls
If you wish to donate to the project, please click down below to visit our donation page. Make sure to choose Menstrual Pads, India as the option. Thank you!
More information on SafePads
The Safepad won the Danish Design Award in 2018 and is trademarked, design protected, and based on safe and proven materials. The Safepad has been tested and succesfully supported girls around the world (visit https://www.realreliefway.com/ for more information)
The priority is to create the production facility on an initial investment. Once the production facility is settled and the pads can be produced, per 1 USD that you or your company donates to this project, Periamma will make sure to get 1 Safepad in the hands of a young girl in rural India – where it is needed the most.
To donate for this project, click on “Donate” in our website, select this project and type the amount you want to donate. For any questions, contact Martin at martin@periamma.org
We hope you will join us in making impact together!
You want to support the project?
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