It is very unfortunate that women die of cervical cancer only because they don't have access to sanitary napkins. This is the ugly truth of our developing country. On one hand, women are achieving great heights and on the other hand, they lose their lives only because they cannot afford to buy sanitary pads.
However, one such woman and that too from Mumbai, is bringing remarkable change and is voicing out about this topic. Versova’s MLA Dr. Bharati Lavekar, through her ‘Tee Foundation’, has been educating women about the importance of sanitary napkins. She launched her foundation in 2009 and has been creating awareness on subjects like female foeticide, women’s education and gender inequalities.
Lavekar did not stop here. She went ahead and introduced a digital Sanitary Napkin Bank which helps women to get sanitary napkins, especially in tribal areas. Recently, Central Ministry of Women and Child Development acknowledged the efforts of Versova’s MLA Dr. Bharati Lavekar by honouring her with the ‘First Lady’ award.
During an exclusive interview with Mumbai Live, she spoke about how her foundation made lives of women worth living by giving them access to sanitary napkins. She mentioned that only 15 per cent women have access to the napkins and rest use piece of cloth or worst, ragged dupattas.
When I paid a visit to my constituency to see if women use pads, I understood that a lot of them use cloth and not napkins. That is the reason why on May 28, 2017, on the occasion of World Menstrual Day, my foundation launched a digital Sanitary Napkin Bank wherein women get the napkins online. You can contribute towards the bank by donating a sum of money with the help of which we will distribute 10 pads every month. We give it free for tribal women that too without any identification. But when it comes to non-tribal people, we ask them to register."
During an interview, she also spoke about Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar who met her and spoke endlessly about the woes women go through when it comes to napkins and menses.
Akshay Kumar spoke a lot about napkins and I was happy that he was talking about it so freely. His movie 'PadMan' is a progressive step towards spreading awareness and I am so glad that he is coming out with such a great movie, such movies should be made more often."
Click on this link to see the full interview: BJP's MLA Dr. Bharati Lavekar's exclusive interview
Apart from this she also pressed on period leave topic wherein she said that schools, colleges, and workplaces should grant period leaves to students and employees. Along with this, she also highlighted about disposable machines which have been set up in schools and public toilets by her foundation.
Lavekar concluded urging men to understand women in those four-five days when women bleed. Every son, husband, and father should see to it that they understand her mentality and make her feel comfortable.
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