Pakistan Floods Update: Lakhs of people have been affected by the floods after heavy rains in Pakistan. Many NGOs including the Pakistani government, armed forces are working day and night to provide relief to more than 33 million people affected by the floods. At the same time, two young girls are working to deliver menstrual health products to women in a male dominated society.
Anum Khalid, a student of Bahauddin Zakaria University, and Bushra Mahnoor, an online friend of hers studying at Lahore’s Panjab University, are running a social media campaign called Menstrual Justice. Its main purpose is to collect menstrual products and money. It is being used to help women and girls from flood-affected areas across Pakistan.
Such a large number of women need
According to estimates by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), at least 1.6 million of the 33 million people affected by floods are women and young girls who are in dire and urgent need of menstrual health support. These include around 650,000 pregnant women who are due to give birth in the month of September and are currently in need of urgent maternal health and reproductive services.
Why was there a need to start this campaign?
Bushra Mahnoor explained why she felt there was a need to launch such a campaign. Bushra said that in 2010 she was only 10 years old when there was a flood in Pakistan. Since, he is originally from Attock city, many areas around him were affected by the floods. She had gone there along with her parents to provide relief. There, he and his mother saw a girl who had blood stains on her salwar (pants). Her mother took her to the tent and found out that her periods had started and she had nothing to handle.
He told that this year he got a call from Lasbela which made him shake Anu. Bushra said that despite living in different cities, both of us did not meet a single person with each other. We have decided that we will run a campaign for this through social media. Anam Khaleda said that so far, 12,000 people have been provided menstrual aid kits with donations from friends and concerned. The kit is in a package which also has a graphical description to make it easier for illiterate women to understand how to use the pad.
Target to reach 50 thousand women
“We are trying to reach out to at least 50,000 more women,” said Bushra Mahnoor, who is campaigning for women’s safety. Bushra said that he does not know how it will happen, we do not even have any funding or resources, nor are we any NGO. Our aim is to help women only. Like the women of almost every household in Pakistan, they do not have the freedom or even permission to talk about their menstrual hygiene issues in front of their parents or family.
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