Imagine a world where female leaders we revere, never achieved their full potential because they dropped out of school, at the age of 13.

It is challenging to fathom, but for millions of Indian girls, this remains a harsh reality of life.

More than 100 million adolescent girls (12-14yrs old) in India are at risk of dropping out of school, purely because of the stigma surrounding menstruation.

Girls are embarrassed to go to school during period, ill-equipped with rags in lieu of pads, unable to concentrate on studies and participate in sports.

When a girl misses school due to her period, it puts her behind her male classmates by more than half a year (200 days). It’s a huge setback for their education and many never recover.

To remedy this problem, we had to convince her biggest influencer, her mother.

Initiative:

Covered 16 towns of Maharashtra using print,radio,social media,menstruation camps.

A. In Print

• Initiative announcement ads, with celebrity face.

• Call-to-action ads for participation.

• Advertorials for conversations.

• Reminder ads, to maximize turnout.

B. Radio, social media talked about the initiative.

C. At Camp

1) Candid conversations with mothers/daughters.

2) Mothers and daughters participated in physical tasks, we asked them, “Can you do this during periods? While using a cloth?”

3) Video to explain the science behind menstruation.

4) Counselors demonstrated benefits of pad over cloth.

5) Celebrity ambassador, social influencers shared period experiences, success stories.

6) Medical experts talked about menstrual hygiene-how using cloth/unhygienic methods can lead to infections, diseases like cervical cancer.

7) Host urged them to prioritize hygiene over external appearance-pads over makeup. To save Rs.2/day and buy a pack of pads.

Post initiative:

Tweets/posts from social handles of ambassadors. Extensive print coverage of initiative.