Janani, 14, sometimes misses her time and doesn’t always make it to university. Janani is forced to employ a plate made of old garments because there aren’t sanitary pads at home on some days. She skips lessons on those times. Janani told DW that she feels embarrassed about using cloth. A survey of more than 500 girls in Sri Lanka’s Central Province revealed that nearly half ( 46 % ) struggled to pay for pads each month, with 81 % at one school, where “we’ve missed them,” and that” they won’t teach us again.” In the hills of Nuwara Eliya District, Janani’s mother earns about 1, 350 rupees ( roughly €4,$ 4.5 ) per day as a tea snob. When she can manage it, she buys her daughter towels. Janani said she wonders “why I get my time at all” when she has no pads. Nearly half of the women surveyed by DW said they missed class for a variety of reasons, including excessive problems. And it is having an impact on their academic achievement. When Girija, 14, spoke about time poverty, a thought that some of her peers shared with her.” I keep thinking about it, and so I didn’t research.
Some instructors will get pads for us, they say.
Sri Lanka’s government is working to address the issue as its economy recovers after a 2022 financial decline. The Advocata Institute reports that the cost of a group of 10 surgical cloths increased by 92 % after the financial crises, from 140 to 270 pounds. In Sri Lanka, imported sanitary pads are still subject to 51 % tax. Professor Anthonyraj Devaneshi claimed that although she could not afford to distribute one sanitary pad continuously, her school did not. Harini, a 12-year-old, said that while some teachers may purchase pads for us, others won’t, adding that she found it unpleasant and would typically request that her friends do the same. If my friends aren’t at school [when I have my period ], I’ll just come home,” Harini says,” If my parents aren’t at home, I’ll just walk home.” The walk through the hills takes her an hour. Additionally, her school does not have a place where women can dispose of their hygiene pads, with some ladies telling DW they avoided changing at the restroom. A coverage in two schools required students who removed a pad from class to obtain a replacement pad and deliver it the following day.
Cloth cushions are risky to use.
According to a study conducted by Advocata in 2021, half of Sri Lankan girls don’t spend any money on hygiene items. The problem “most good gotten worse” following the COVID-19 epidemic and economic crisis, according to Ravi Balasuriya, director of the Arka Initiative to fight time poverty and technical advisor to Sri Lanka’s Family Planning Association. Some ladies use fabric to save money. About 44 % of the girls surveyed by DW reported using only cloth during their periods, though not all of them cited affordability as the reason. According to Balasuriya, the lack of daylight in Sri Lanka’s hill country prevented material cushions from being used when they were not adequately dried. Girija informed DW that she had begun using cushions after contracting an illness from a material. ” Wiping material is difficult. She said,” It seems like it’s no secure.” I’m afraid to remain because I’m concerned things may occur. It’s challenging to walk, sit, or go to sleep.” At least a dozen other girls reported to DW that using cloth likewise had brought on infections. Girija claimed that her mother could not afford the cushions because her home took out loans from the business. However, her mother said,” You use pads, it’s irrelevant.” Girija is afraid to run out, so she only changes her plate once every seven days. Saraswathi, 13, who occasionally uses material pads even at school, avoids changing for the entire day, said,” When we use material for too much, it sometimes burns.” There is a lack of awareness around menstruation, according to teacher Thiruchelvam Mangala Roobini, with some girls snorting their underpants, which they would then dispose of in the restrooms.
Government activities fall little
The Sri Lankan government distributed two 600 rupee tickets to 800,000 teenagers last year, with the final payment being made in September 2024. The purpose of the plan was to get the women to purchase sanitary pads. However, Balasuriya claimed that the voucher program was” not a sustainable one” because the average person only needs 20 pads per month for five days, and the money was simply inadequate. Some women informed DW that the pads they had purchased had expired in a few weeks. Using shoe vouchers provided by the government to obtain additional necessities, Roobini claims that some girls did not use the vouchers to purchase sanitary pads. One school principal informed DW that he was” 100 % certain” that alcohol had even been purchased using the sanitary pad voucher.
New tickets are anticipated this time.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the present government’s leader, announced in March that it would donate two 720 rupee vouchers to all pregnant schoolgirls. A rep from the Department of Education informed DW that the program may reapply at the end of May, but it was impossible to say whether it would remain after the two pieces of card payouts. The politicians have not yet made a decision on the matter. If they keep giving us cushions, it will be good, Girija, 14, told DW. ” Then they didn’t run out, best?” We can continue to employ them.
