500 million
women and girls today live without basic access to menstrual products.
23%
of indian girls drop out of school when they get their first period.
1 in 10
15 year old girls in kenya have sexual relations to afford sanitary care.
What We Do
We don’t think the world needs another NGO; we believe in amplifying the NGOs already doing amazing ground work. That’s why we launched End Period Poverty, an initiative that makes it easy for organizations already passionate about education, women’s empowerment, or sustainability to integrate the cause of period poverty into their current mission.
Our Three Pillars
education
Developing and conservative countries face the double threat of both limited access to menstrual products and harmful menstrual stigma. Many girls are shamed by their classmates, friends, or even family members into skipping school while on their periods—some even drop out completely. Work with us to target period poverty, and you’ll work towards eradicating the 50-day attendance gap between male and female students due entirely to menstruation.
women’s empowerment
Without access to safe and clean menstrual products, low-income women and girls are forced to use makeshift pads. The Menstrual Alliance of India found that these substitutes put 70% of women at risk for a severe infection. But the impact of period poverty stretches beyond just physical health. Giving a girl a sanitary product is giving her back her dignity, and is helping her understand that menstruation is normal and healthy.
sustainability
A single non-biodegradable sanitary pad is composed of 90% plastic—taking up to 500 to 800 years to decompose. Alarmingly, menstrual products are now the 5th most common item on European sea shores, above plastic bags and cutlery. While helping girls out of period poverty, why not also keep our eyes on the planet? Where feasible, we aim to distribute reusable and/or biodegradable sanitary products as the most sustainable solution for tackling period poverty.
