More than 33 million people have been affected by monsoon rain floods that covered a third of Pakistan. Half of the victims are women and girls.
“Menstruation doesn’t stop during floods. Women need help,” argues Bushra Mahnoor, a student at the University of Lahore, who launched the Mahwari Justice campaign.
Bushra recalls her own experience during the 2010 floods, when she saw a young girl whose clothes were stained with her menstrual blood.
After learning that some women were “using (tree) leaves” to absorb their menstrual blood, she realized that sanitary pads were once again going to fail and decided to take action.
Since June, with fellow student Anum Khalid, she has mobilized friends and volunteers to raise funds to buy and distribute sachets containing sanitary napkins, underwear and soap.
Each set costs just 200 rupees (0.9 euros) and can make a huge difference for women trying to maintain their dignity in difficult times.
Her appeals to producers of hygienic products went unanswered, so Bushra harassed shops selling in Lahore markets, to bring down the price of her kits as low as possible.
Mahwari – which means “rules” in Urdu – has already transported thousands to the areas most affected by the floods. But its promoters hope to expand far beyond the reach of their campaign.
After a call on social media, dozens of girls and women volunteered to help prepare the kits.
“I put myself in their shoes and said to myself that it would have been a huge problem for me if I didn’t have these products”, explained a volunteer, Nyle Imtiaz.
– Resistors –
Similar initiatives have flourished in other cities, such as Multan, where the transgender community has taken the lead in local efforts.
Bushra admits to having encountered resistance at the beginning, when she began to describe her project.
“Periods are a big taboo in Pakistan and it hasn’t been easy,” she says.
Pakistan is a deeply conservative and patriarchal country, where talking openly about menstruation or sexual health issues is rarely tolerated.
The floods have not spared some of the more conservative regions of the country, such as the Swat Valley, where women avoid appearing in public and most often veil their faces.
Many people displaced by the floods find themselves in makeshift camps, where overcrowding is the rule and which often have no showers and few toilets. Some women are thus for the first time mixed with men who do not belong to their family.
Public discussions and campaigns relating to menstruation regularly provoke reactions of disgust and anger.
On social media, Mahwari has been accused of promoting a “liberal agenda”, which would divert money from causes considered more useful, such as providing food and medicine to victims.
“I don’t understand what there is to hide, what to be ashamed of,” observes Nimra Akram, another volunteer in Lahore.
“It would be more shameful, from my point of view, to see a girl who had her period and did not have this kit,” she adds.
Bushra confesses that even her own family tried to talk her out of it. “My mother tells me that I am an indecent woman to speak so publicly about periods.”