Women are brought up not to talk about menstruation. Period.
We get it. We deal with it. We move on. But in developing countries, menstruation messes with females’ education. Young girls routinely miss a week of school every month — or drop out altogether — due to their periods.
An innovative company is trying to change that. THINX is period underwear that is designed to absorb menstrual flow since the fabric includes anti-microbial, moisture-wicking and leak-resistant technology — and can replace products like pads and tampons, eliminating a lot of waste.
“Reinventing and making products easier to access is only the beginning,” says Co-Founder & CEO Miki Agrawal. “We also need to break the taboo together and change the conversation around the most natural, normal time of the month.”
The idea really got its legs when she travelled to South Africa in 2010 for the World Cup. and met a 12 year-old girl in a rural area.
“Why aren’t you in school?” she asked.
The girl quietly responded, “It’s my week of shame.”
“Upon my return, we discovered that 100 million girls around the world miss school just because they lack the sanitary supplies they need to manage their periods,” she said. “We knew that they could somehow use the innovative idea of magic period underwear to support these girls.”
THINX has partnered with AFRIpads, a Uganda-based social business that manufactures reusable, washable menstrual pads. AFRIpads employs a 90% female staff and is dedicated to creating economic opportunities for women.
For every pair of underwear sold, the company funds a pack of AFRIpads that goes to a girl in the developing world.
To date, THINX says they have helped 30,000 girls go back to school, helping that time of the month go from a “time of shame” to a plain old “time of lame.”
On second thought, if Agrawal has her way, across the globe, we’ll all consider our periods to be “a beautiful part of womanhood.”