RA528
Why Pakistan?
There are three brief reasons why we chose Pakistan.
First, about 1 in 4 women and girls are finding it harder to manage their period since the beginning of COVID-19.
Second, people in Pakistan tend to regard the period as shameful, which makes many girls have to miss school and have less knowledge about what the period is.
Third, many regions in Pakistan are facing a severe flood situation due to the recent monsoon rains. The floods have already consumed 350+ lives and destroyed about 7000 houses so far. In this situation, women have no access to safe menstrual products.
Problems that period poverty cause
There are three main problems caused by the lack of access to sanitary products: education, hygiene, and prejudice.
First, it violates the right to education. Female students who do not have enough sanitary products have to miss school for menstruation. As a result, it is difficult to maintain grades, and many students have to decide to drop out even though they want to continue their studies. Lack of education, especially in developing countries, is leading to a decline in employment opportunities for women.
Also, in order to reduce the financial burden, some women reduce the frequency of changing sanitary pads and substitute non-sanitary products such as toilet paper and tissues. Some women living in developing countries use grass and cloth instead, which is not very hygienic as it increases the risk of infection.
Menstrual poverty is not just economic poverty. In countries where menstruation has a fixed concept of "unclean"or "taboo", girls are isolated during menstruation, and they are bullied and teased about menstruation. Many girls in Pakistan and around the world are still ashamed to talk about their periods and have no medium to talk about it. On the other hand, boys tend to avoid talking about menstruation.
These problems are related to SDGs Goal 1 “No poverty” Goal 3 “Good health and well being”, Goal 4 “Quality education”, and Goal 5 “Gender equality". We believe that by tackling this period poverty, we can also get closer to achieving the goals of the SDGs.
チーム紹介
RA528は女性の福祉を向上させたいという熱い思いから集まった、国際的なグループです。※自己紹介文に和訳を付けられず、申し訳ありません
Member of Crowdfunding
Ai Nakajima, Anju Kitao, Juri Maruyama, Reika Sugizaki, Mai Ozawa, Ilima Ishida, Nanami Muto, Yu Komiyama, MAKOMAKO
Partnership
