ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY MENSTRUAL HYGIENE IN PAKISTAN: PRACTICES, PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES

Abstract

Dealing with climate change and incorporating sustainability into our everyday lives is part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, something that all of the UN member states also incorporated back in 2015. Keeping in view the large amounts of plastic in various landfills all over the world and on the ocean floor, it is important to realise that since popular menstrual products such as pads and tampons also contain plastic, they also contribute to this waste, especially considering just one woman will use thousands of these products in her lifetime. Despite the existence of environment friendly options, their usage is still very limited. In a country like Pakistan, where the fact that menstruation is a taboo topic and poverty and lack of access to such products pose a unique challenge to tackling menstrual issues, it is important to study people’s perceptions and thoughts about this topic. A mixed-method study based on 385 online surveys, 10 in-depth interviews and 4 key informant interviews was conducted in Pakistan on women over the age of 18 and those having at least some level of education. The findings showed that only 2.85% of women were exclusively using environment-friendly options while the rest were using non-environment-friendly products. The study demonstrated a higher percentage of women using pads compared to other Pakistani studies, but also documented the usage of menstrual cups. Women do hold some level of awareness regarding the fact that pads are bad for the environment, but that knowledge is still somewhat incomplete. Despite acknowledging the environmental impact of pads, albeit not that deeply, women showed reluctance to change their behaviour, based on taboos, hygiene issues, cost, availability and the stigmatisation of menstruation and how they find reusable products to be awkward, uncomfortable and even shameful at times, while those using environment friendly options had positive sentiments regarding such products after trying them out. Yet, this study found that some women, given the factual details and information about environment friendly products can be open to using such products, as long as their fears are alleviated and properly addressed.