A female-only troupe of stand-up comedians in Pakistan recently held a 'Pad Drive' to collect sanitary pads as donations to be distributed around women's shelters.
Audience members donated pads at one of their live shows in Islamabad, with an aim of promoting the use of pads to improve female hygiene and educate women.
Enough supplies were collected to support 50 girls and women to manage their periods for two months at a women's shelter in Islamabad.
Sabah Bano Malik, Journalist and Member of the Auratnaak Collective's Islamabad branch, told SBS Urdu that she believed that having access to pads is tough in Pakistan for women who do not possess the means."There is a lot of stigma that surrounds menstruation or ‘menses’ as it’s often put. It’s viewed as dirty and oddly sexualised so it’s swept under the rug," she told SBS Urdu.
"For homeless women, in particular, they are forced to come up with solutions like using literally whatever it is they can find - be it socks, plastic bags, torn fabric from their own clothes. They are faced with having to come up with often unsafe and unhygienic solutions.
"There are literally still traditions operating in Pakistan where women on their periods are cast out from their homes and isolated until the red sprint has run its course."
A member of the Auratnaak Collective came up with the idea to use a portion of their profits from their live show to donate pads to women's shelters.
They also ran a social media campaign where they encouraged people coming to the show to buy pads and bring them for donation.
"We thought on top of financial [donation] why not make a tangible donation in the form of pads - an item which is viewed as a luxury though it provides an essential service to keep women functioning during their time of the month.
"Particularly for men who attended our show and chose to donate, they maybe got the chance to experience what it’s like to buy pads," Sabah Malik said.
44% of girls aged 10-35 do not have access to basic menstrual hygiene facilities in Pakistan.
Due to the great response, the womens' collective extended collection and also launched it in other cities.
Ms Malik said she believes that the campaign has been very successful in talking about a genuine issue.
"We had so many donations that we emptied the box so there was room for more. Of course, this is just a handful of help in an arena which needs more, but it’s something we will revisit and we encourage everyone to do."
According to a Unicef poll, 44% of girls aged 10-35 do not have access to basic menstrual hygiene facilities at home, their workplace or school in Pakistan.
The poll also revealed that 28% of the respondents say they missed school or work while on their period and that 49% of women did not know about menstruation when they first got their period.
UNICEF said that “Despite Pakistan’s gains in meeting its water and sanitation development goals, we are still failing millions of adolescent girls and young women who do not have access to the most basic necessities for managing their periods.
49% of women did not know about menstruation when they first got their period
Supporters expressed their interest in making monetary donations for the cause, while some others criticized them for the use of sanitary pads not being environmentally friendly.
Interestingly, there has so far been no backlash from the conservative community in Pakistan.
"We did not face any backlash actually, no rude comments, no pearls were clutched. That being said there were a lot of discussions about the environmental impact of sanitary napkins versus us donating menstrual cups." says Ms Malik
Auratnaak plans to hold similar drives in the future highlighting women's issues.
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