The first thing girls learn about menstruation is that it is something to be hidden. How many times have we witnessed the awkward silence that falls across the TV lounges the moment a sanitary pad advertisement appears on air and the quick change of channel? The walk of shame from the drawer where the pads are hidden like a murder weapon to the washroom. Pretending to be fasting in Ramadan and eating secretly as if committing sin. All because menstruation, instead of being considered a normal biological function, is treated as a scandal waiting to be exposed. I myself have wondered for most of my life why it is treated differently than other bodily excretions. This cultural silence around periods does not only turn the whole phenomenon into a taboo but also determines who is informed about her reproductive health, who gets access to the hygiene products and who is left to deal with her health issues alone.
The stigma around menstruation was built around cultural systems of purity to sustain gender regulation. Mary Douglas’ idea, “matter out of place”, states that societies consider things that cross boundaries to be “polluting”. She argues that menstrual blood is not only perceived to be dirty because it moves outside from the body but is also symbolised to be impure to maintain social structures, justify the marginalisation of women and reinforce patriarchal norms. These ideas of impurity and pollution got translated into daily rituals of a domestic and religious nature. Hence, restricting women from participating in domestic chores like preparing food and touching things that could spoil easily, like pickles. Similarly, menstruating women were also prohibited from religious spaces and practices, considering them to be in a state of ritual impurity. Even though the meaning behind those prohibitions might have disappeared with time, the restrictions and the stigma around menstruation were passed down silently across generations and can be observed even today.
This sworn secrecy around menstruation is not limited to households but extends to schools as well. The suppression of discourse on menstrual health caused girls having their first period to be uninformed and unprepared. According to a study, 41% of adolescent girls had no knowledge of menstruation prior to their first period, and 44% didn’t have access to basic menstrual hygiene needs. When, unfortunately, a girl gets her first period during school hours and is found without underwear, despite repeated instructions from both mothers and teachers — instructions without explanation — it turns into a humiliating incident, rather than a moment met with understanding and support. A lack of basic hygiene products and facilities adds to their discomfort and hinders their participation in daily life, resulting in 79% of women being unable to participate in social activities, school, or work during their menstruation. Apart from educational institutions, workplaces are also designed for non-menstruating bodies and lack MHM (Menstrual Hygiene Management) policies, starting from hygiene facilities to period leaves, as sick leaves require you to have a medical certificate, hence treating periods as a private inconvenience rather than a health issue. Women avoid raising these issues with the workplace management due to fear of being tagged incompetent and reinforcing gender stereotypes.
When society keeps treating menstruation as a taboo, it becomes easier for it to be ignored in public health policies and reflected in policy neglect. Beyond the institutional silence lies a structural barrier to access and affordability. Only 17% of Pakistani women have access to sanitary pads, as they are taxed up to 40%, treating them as luxury items instead of health essentials. In September 2025, a lawsuit was filed by the founder of Mahawari Justice, Bushra Mahnoor, in the Lahore High Court challenging the high taxes on sanitary pads. Later in December 2025, the IMF refused the FBR’s request to exempt high taxes from sanitary pads. The issue is not limited to menstrual products but extends to the contraceptives, as they have also faced heavy taxes despite repeated calls for exemption. In a country where nearly forty-five per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, high taxes on reproductive health products and lack of related public health policies end up affecting women’s health drastically.
At the heart of all these issues lies an important contradiction between privacy and secrecy. While menstruation is a personal bodily experience, requiring privacy and dignity. But privacy here should not be considered synonymous with secrecy, resulting in institutional neglect. When menstruation is left to be addressed only among mothers and daughters or considered even only in urgent situations, institutions rarely feel compelled to address menstrual needs. Workplaces may avoid introducing policies supporting women without stigmatising them. And government policies will keep on imposing high taxes on reproductive healthcare essentials. Under the guise of privacy, women’s basic needs are simultaneously ignored and justified.
Menstruation is a natural biological process, and yet the silence around it has turned it into a source of shame. Although menstruation itself can be physically discomforting or painful, stigma attached to it can make the experience even more distressful, hindering women from being productive and participating. This whole experience could get better through proper facilitation and better policies and awareness. Breaking the silence around periods does not mean turning it into a public spectacle but instead being aware and informed enough to acknowledge it as an ordinary part of human life. The label of shame and embarrassment can only be replaced with dignity, support and understanding through awareness and informed dialogue.