Young Women Are Being Forced to Use Phone Book Pages in Place of Sanitary Pads

Sadly, for many women living in impoverished nations, this struggle is nothing new.

KidsCan isn’t the only charity trying to help. Days for Girls supplies sanitary products to girls in Mexico, the Middle East, India, and several countries in Africa, among other places. Cool stats they cite: After distributing kits to girls in Uganda, school absence rates dropped from 36 percent to eight percent.

AfriPads focuses on helping girls in Africa, since as they note, one in 10 African girls skips school or drops out entirely due to her period.

Pads4Girls also distributes washable pads and underwear to girls in developing nations, with the goal of keeping them in school and raising awareness for them about menstruation.

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Some companies like Cora even donate pads to girls and women in need when you buy your own supplies. (Cora points out the depressing stat that while 355 million Indian women and girls have their periods every month, only 12 percent have access to sanitary napkins.)

These charities are finding ways to make a difference, and they could use all the support you can lend! Check out their sites to see how you can get on board.