Women and girls across the world experience shame and stigma, just for having periods. In parts of western Nepal, some are banished from their homes each month in a practice called ‘chhaupadi’.
Fourteen-year-old Ishu is one of them. Every month, she is forced to live in a dark hut in the mountains with no sanitary products, only rags. “I’d like these practices to stop,” she says. Ishu wishes she could stay with her mum during her period and sleep at home.
Women and girls shouldn’t be held back just because they menstruate. ActionAid works with local women who are campaigning to end chhaupadi and supports girls by providing access to clean, affordable sanitary pads.
ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. Their dedicated local staff are ending violence against women and girls and helping change lives, for good. ActionAid won’t stop until women and girls are out of danger, out of poverty and on track to create the future they want.
A regular gift from you could help make sure more girls like Ishu don’t face hardship and discrimination because of their periods. Visit actionaid.org.uk/period-stigma to learn more.
