STAYFREE®
HOSTS PANEL DISCUSSION TO BREAK THE SILENCE AROUND MENSTRUATION HYGIENE IN
INDIA
Mumbai, May 27, 2015: Stayfree®, India’s leading women’s health and
hygiene brand today hosted a panel discussion on India’s
least-spoken about social topic, ‘Menstruation’, with an
aim to spread awareness around the need for educating young girls and women
about menstrual hygiene. Following the panel discussion, Stayfree® also announced the launch of its free
educational YouTube channel that will
assist women in getting a better understanding about menstruation.
Panelists
included experts and well-known personalities in their fields such as Gul Panag, Actress, Activist &
Former Beauty Queen; Dr. Anita Soni,
Obstetrics & Gynecology Consultant at Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital; Sinu Joseph, Counselor & Menstrual
Hygiene Educator and Lina Ashar,
Founder & Chairperson of Kangaroo Kids Education who shared relevant
anecdotes and insights on the topic.
Good menstrual hygiene is a critical indicator of the holistic
progress of women, socially and economically, because there is a very strong
connection between hygienic menstrual practices and overall health. In India,
despite the economic progress that has been made in the last several years, over
80% of women still do not have access to adequate sanitary protection during
menstruation. In India, feminine hygiene and menstruation, being a sensitive
topic, is not discussed openly, and women often continue to harbor myths and
misconceptions about it, since no one amongst their family and friends is able
to educate them. Additionally, mothers are often not in a position to guide
their daughters correctly, since their own knowledge is limited. Over time,
unhygienic practices due to low awareness and education levels can adversely
impact the health and productivity of these women. According to the report,
awareness on basic health and feminine hygiene in India is very low, with 75%
rural women lacking adequate knowledge on menstrual hygiene and care.
"We strongly believe
that education dispels fear and prepares young girls to recognize
menstruation as being a natural process and face it with confidence” stated Ganesh Bangalore, General Manager -
Marketing, Consumer Business, at Johnson & Johnson India. “That’s why
Stayfree is investing behind educating 100 million young girls in India over
the next 3 years."
Speaking during the panel discussion, Gul Panag shared, “Menstruation is a
natural process and is not something that a woman or girl should be embarrassed
about. During my growing up years and even today, I see women and girls shying
away from mentioning the ‘M’ word. Women try and come up with innovative ways
to state the word in public, but you don’t see a man cringing publicly or
feeling sorry about what he wants to say. And all this shushing and
discouragement is affecting women and girls basic right to get educated on a
topic that is a monthly occurrence till they reach menopause. I feel strongly
about a women’s right to educate herself and applaud Stayfree for holding this
discussion.”
Dr.
Anita Soni, Obstetrics & Gynecology consultant at Dr L H Hiranandani
Hospital, stated that “Today, almost every household will have at least
one woman or girl who suffers from irregularities in her menstrual cycle but
the reported cases will be few due to the stigma associated with talking openly
about the red-letter day. Most women and girls do not understand or give as
much importance to their menstrual issues, hence a lot of women do not follow
simple hygienic practices like use of sanitary napkins or the right usage of
same”
Ms. Sinu Joseph, Counselor & Menstrual
Hygiene educator, spoke about the need to start talking about
menstruation. According to her, “When we don’t talk about it, we do not think
enough about our body and miss the signs when we need attention. While
education about menstrual hygiene is important, it is even more important to
stop looking at menstruation as a disease needing a cure. Menstruation is the
most ancient and reliable tool for women to assess their health and well-being,
naturally. Beginning to respect your menstrual cycle is the first step towards
being healthy. Menstrual Hygiene should be addressed at homes, schools, community
centers, health centers, women hostels and at the work place.”
Lina Ashar, Founder & Chairperson of
Kangaroo Kids Education, stated that, “Menstruation is not something
that a girl needs to feel ashamed of. It is essential for schools to understand
and make requisite arrangements so that a girl student need not skip school due
to menstruation or drop out completely as soon as she reaches puberty. After
all, it is a natural biological process and needs to be seen as such. There is
nothing “dirty” or “unclean” about it; let’s stop treating it as a
life-threatening contagious disease.”
About Stayfree®
Stayfree®
is a brand of feminine hygiene products in the Johnson & Johnson Women’s
Health Care Products division. Stayfree® enjoys a long heritage of being an
innovator in the sanitary protection category, creating products that provide
superior protection with an eye towards helping women feel totally comfortable
during their period. In India, Stayfree® offers multiple variants at
varied price points that cater to different consumer needs. Apart from
delivering innovative products for women in India, it has been at the forefront
of imparting education and creating awareness about menstrual hygiene through
various platforms and interventions. To know more about Stayfree®, please visit
www.stayfreeindiablog.com
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