Push to make period poverty an issue of the past
Period poverty affects millions of women and girls worldwide, and an Australian-based charity is hoping to change the narrative for those in rural Cambodia.
Wednesday marks Menstrual Hygiene Day, a movement that aims to shift the taboos and stigma surrounding menstruation around the world.
Millions of women and girls cannot afford period products or access to safe water and sanitation to manage their menstrual health and hygiene.
The United Nations estimates at least one in 10 women and girls in rural areas across 12 countries did not have a private place to wash and change during their last period.
Bloody Unstoppable, an initiative of Human and Hope, is raising funds to fight period poverty in Cambodia where many girls miss out on school and work due to lack of access to hygiene products.
The organisation is aiming to raise $20,000 to help provide education and period packs with reusable sanitary pads to girls in schools.
The project also aimed to reduce the shame surrounding periods, Human and Hope Australia CEO Sally Hetherington said.
"Periods are a really taboo topic in Cambodia," she told AAP.
"It costs $40 for the pads in the period pack which last at least three years and you can literally change a girls life through that.
"We want to break the silence around menstrual health that it's not something to be ashamed of and it should not be stigmatised.
In Ballarat, youth worker Maddison Hudson-Stepnell decided to get involved in the fundraising effort, sharing a link on her Instagram and Facebook pages.
She has so far raise $305 just from donations from family and friends.
"I believe everybody in the world should be able to access adequate education and period products when they need them," she said.
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