In Tier 2 and 3 cities of India, daily wage workers face major issues associated with menstrual health and hygiene due to lack of awareness, apart from not being able to afford basic amenities such as inner-garments or sanitary pads. With mounting issues during the lockdown, the Radico Khaitan-SheWings duo came forward with an on-ground initiative to spread awareness and help these women.
Through this campaign, Radico Khaitan & SheWings aim to provide a platform to fill the gap in awareness and eradicate period poverty while enabling the populace to have access to the right products.
SheWings has been working on-ground for the welfare of women for the last 7 years while distributing menstrual hygiene kits to women living in slum areas and other locations. They found that in tier II & III parts of the country, most women had never owned an undergarment in their lives, let alone, using sanitary napkins
Madan Mohit Bhardwaj, Founder, SheWings, said, “Neither did these women have access to any of the menstrual hygiene products nor did they know how to use them. We found a need for education as well as the need for these products in rural/underdeveloped areas that we have covered in the last 6 years of work.” This led to SheWings and Radico Khaitan coming together.
Amar Sinha, Chief Operating Officer Radico Khaitan, shared that with this collaboration, the brand is making an effort to provide a platform to educate people about the importance of menstrual health.
In-line with the Government’s ‘Swasth Nari Swasth Parivar’, the team intends to take this forward and spread this across India while supporting Swachha Bharat Abhiyan.
Sinha highlighted, “We are trying to reach a significant chunk of women population of the country who don’t even have access to sanitary napkins and help destroy the stigma which is associated with periods.”
To execute the initiative, the team first shortlisted a group of target cities where they found a requirement for education on menstrual hygiene and the need for basic sanitary products to achieve the objective of menstrual hygiene. Keeping in mind the Government restrictions owing to COVID-19, Radico-SheWings team collaborated with local police who helped them in conducting the donation drives across various locations like Alwar and Dehradun.
In the first phase of the campaign, the initiative will be executed in multiple cities including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand spanning across Rampur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Amroha, Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Lucknow, and Agra.
As part of the initiative, #DonateOldBraPanty also fell under the ambit where the CEOs, corporate houses, and women from all over the country are donating their essential innerwear for the betterment of the underprivileged sector. Sinha shared, “For the distribution of the collected stock, team SheWings will be visiting various locations in accordance with government restrictions due to COVID-19 and distributing them to the needy.”
Moving forward, the month-long campaign will also include a host of activities including workshops with doctors and gynecologists, distribution of hygiene products, and sessions on proper disposal of menstrual waste to name a few. Further, biodegradable sanitary and hygiene products will be distributed to underprivileged women.
SheWings, as an organization, looks into helping women from low-income strata on period taboos and menstrual health while Radico Khaitan has also been active in causes associated with women. The synergy and collaboration for the campaign came naturally.
Speaking about the collaboration with SheWings, Sinha, explained, “They have a proven record of pulling off many successful campaigns on the subject including #YesIBleed and #RedDot”, added Sinha.
Apart from distributing the necessary products, the brand hopes to bring some healthy changes in the lives of women through this initiative.
The brand shared that since the initiative is based on a social cause, the teams are not using any marketing tools to promote it. However, Sinha explained that they are heavily relying on word-of-mouth to keep it as organic as possible. “We are using PR to spread the information in smaller towns and cities through local newspapers”, he shared.
Bhardwaj shared that social media has also played a great role in the success of the campaign. “It gave people, especially, the corporate women a platform to address the stigma attached with the topic. We have gotten immense support from women who helped in this cause by sending unused undergarments and also providing financial support which was required to reach out to these places and organize a drive,” he added.
In addition, women extended their support by recording videos across social media. To further help the initiative reach the masses, people from different walks of life including policymakers, government officials, bloggers, and public figures will be actively involved throughout the process
Focusing not just on menstrual health but also sustainability in sanitary waste management, the campaign aims to go beyond just the distribution of menstrual hygiene kits and awareness on the subject.
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