Period poverty is a prominent issue for women and girls in India. The Asani Napkin Project aims to eliminate stigma while increasing education and access to menstruation products. The program trains women to distribute affordable, high-quality sanitary napkins to their communities.

Asani’s Mission

In 2017, the Asani Napkin Project launched. Asani focuses on the regions of Valsad, Navsari, Tapi, Surat, Dang, Bharuch and Nanded but is working to expand further to regions such as Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. This ever-expanding program transforms the response and access to menstruation products in these communities.

Asani takes a holistic approach to attacking period poverty in India. The lack of knowledge that women in these communities have about their hygiene has raised both physical and mental health challenges. Roughly 71% of girls in the regions that Asani has reached have no knowledge of menstruation before the arrival of their first cycle. Asani aims to destigmatize menstruation to help women attend school at the same rate as their male counterparts and, more importantly, overcome cultural barriers and gain full autonomy over their own health. Another element of Asani’s mission is to expand access to jobs. Currently, Asani reports that more than 2,900 women are working for the program. These women are employed to educate their communities on the proper usage of sanitary napkins.

Empowering Women and Girls

Made for women, by women, the Asani Project prides itself on this initiative. A huge part of the program is its goal to empower women and girls through developing a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. The program’s core mission is to cultivate dignity, opportunity and health. Its 2017 launch event illustrates this mission. During this event, reports indicated that more than 700 women and girls were holding signs celebrating their right to bleed. This was impactful in fighting against the cultural taboos around menstruation that are present in these communities of rural India.

Lack of accessibility and education on the usage of sanitary napkins may be two of the strongest leading causes of the perpetual issue of menstrual equity in India, however, another leading cause is harming women’s access to napkins too. The shame of purchasing sanitary napkins from a male shopkeeper plagues many women in these communities. Asani’s model of being a woman-to-woman-run project eliminates this shame as women can access menstrual resources while simultaneously unlearning the present stigma on periods.

The Impact of Asani

“Asani” translates to “with ease.” This speaks to the program’s overall message that women should be able to address their monthly cycle with ease, both physically and socially. As Asani has produced more than 3.5 million sanitary napkins to address period poverty in India, the future looks bright for both the company and the regions receiving these napkins. Asani’s website allows for community participation, where one can become a distribution partner or advocate for a new community to be reached. This community-based program is rewriting the way women and society as a whole view menstruation.

– Morgan Schriner
Photo: Flickr