Stayfree, a leading brand in menstrual hygiene in partnership with Menstrupedia, a fast-growing startup focused on menstrual education celebrate a significant milestone. Together, Stayfree and Menstrupedia have trained over 10,000 teachers to deliver period education in schools and educated 1 million+ girls on menstrual hygiene to foster an environment where menstrual health is better understood, accepted, and normalized and positively shape the future of young girls.
Stayfree collaborated with Menstrupedia in 2020 with the aim to educate young girls and teachers about menstrual health and to eliminate the stigma associated with it. Taking a holistic approach to drive change for the long-term and create scaled impact, the program focuses on training teachers and facilitating the facilitators to cascade education on periods and address social taboos as well as educate both girls and boys between 9–15 years to nurture a positive mindset around periods. Bringing this to life, Menstrupedia uses comic books – a creative way to engage and educate young girls on menstrual hygiene as well as other aspects of adolescent health including hormonal changes related to puberty, cycle tracking, nutrition and much more.
Over the last 5 years, Stayfree and Menstrupedia has trained over 10,000 teachers, distributed over 1.2 million comic books, conducted 14,500+ workshops reaching over 36,500 schools across India to normalize periods conversations not just amongst young girls and boys, their families and the larger society, creating positive change one classroom at a time.
Speaking on this important milestone, Manoj Gadgil, Business Unit Head-Essential Health and Vice President, Marketing, Kenvue India said, ” Many girls have their periods at school, their early experiences impact their attitude towards periods. In this journey, a teacher as a change champion plays a crucial role in cascading knowledge to create a positive mindset about periods and normalization of period conversations. As part of our brand purpose, Stayfree® is committed to normalizing period conversations to create a world where no girl feels the fear, shame or discomfort about her periods. Together with Menstrupedia, we are delighted to train over 10,000 teachers and positively impact over 1 million girls, making them period ready. This milestone marks a meaningful step in our journey of shaping an equal future, one classroom at a time.”
Aditi Gupta, Co-Founder, Menstrupedia said,“One in four girls in our country misses’ school during her periods. For years, teachers have avoided discussing periods in classrooms. We knew this had to change. We are relentlessly working towards creating a future where periods aren’t seen as a taboo, a future where period education is normalized and is taught openly. For the past decade, Menstrupedia has provided teachers with a culturally sensitive toolkit on periods. Our training materials, available in all Indian languages, help teachers conduct engaging workshops, discuss menstrual hygiene, and debunk myths. In our partnership with Stayfree, we have made thousands of classrooms period-ready so that girls stepping into womanhood are confident and chase their dreams without any barriers. Here’s to moving towards an era where period taboo is over.”