Maneka Gandhi to launch #YesIBleed menstrual hygiene campaign
With the objective to create a holistic approach to issue of menstruation, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi will launch a menstrual hygiene campaign on February 20.
The United Nations has recognised menstrual hygiene as a global public health and a human rights issue yet across the globe. "Period poverty" as some call it, is a reality for millions of women and girls.
The campaign called "#Yes I Bleed" will be initiated formally across all multi-media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.
"Menstruation is still a taboo subject in our country and a topic that even women are uncomfortable discussing in public. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a natural physiological process. In order to dispel myths surrounding menstruation and to promote menstrual hygiene awareness, the #YesIBleed campaign was conceptualized. This campaign is going to be launched formally on 20th February by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi in the national capital," said Subodh Gupta, patron of SheWings and Director of Okaya Power Company.
Only 12 percent of the country's 355 million menstruating women can afford to avail sanitary protection, he added.
According to a Nielsen Survey, 23 per cent of adolescent Indian girls in the age group of 12-18 drop out of school once they reach puberty because of inadequate menstrual protection and a whopping 88 per cent who do not have access to sanitary pads, use unsanitised cloth, husk sand, tree leaves and even ash.
