Our campaign aims to empower women by diminishing the effects of period poverty through destigmatizing menstruation and making sustainable period products more accessible to underprivileged communities. Ultimately, this campaign hopes to eradicate wrongful feelings of shame in young girls over a normal bodily process and ensure they don't miss on schooling opportunities. A summary of our two-phase plan: Phase 1: Provide menstrual education to youths by going to schools in rural areas. Our workshops will be divided into two parts: 1) general menstrual health (e.g: regularity of cycles, types of cramps) and 2) menstrual products and period hygiene. Additionally, summaries on the workshop and helpful tips will be given in the form of handbooks. #BulanSisters will also be on social media to answer menstrual-related enquiries and provide additional information to our followers in championing the destigmatisation of menstruation. This includes a buddy system where followers are assigned to a #BulanSister if they have personal questions or need advice. Phase 2: Supply reusable menstrual products/care packages to those experiencing period poverty. Reusable pads would be made by B40 women to help them earn a side income. We plan to source our reusable fabrics from a) donations b) thrift stores.
For this campaign, we plan to provide accurate facts about menstruation, menstrual health, and menstrual hygiene. For girls, this increases awareness about the importance of menstrual health, which could contribute to effective community prevention of female reproductive diseases. For boys, this knowledge would catalyse the destigmatisation of periods in Malaysian society. The plan to provide online personal support would help clarify any doubts that the girls may have on the topic of menstruation. Where stigma might prevent crucial discussions in real life, the #BulanSisters can take action and debunk period myths to promote better female reproductive health and refer girls to professionals when necessary. We will also use this platform to encourage reusable period products as it is in-line with environmental initiatives. In addition, the campaign also hopes to provide reusable sanitary products to girls in rural areas, especially since this is a more sustainable alternative both financially (as menstrual products would not need to be purchased monthly) and health-wise (as disposable pads cause more skin irritation than the bamboo cotton lining frequently used in the production of reusable pads). Ultimately, we hope these steps will reduce school dropout rates directly related to period poverty.
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