Pakistan’s government is set to abolish sales tax on sanitary products, in a sweeping new measure that reproductive justice advocates say could de-stigmatize ubiquitous social taboos around sexual health.

Background

The planned withdrawal of the 18% sales tax on sanitary items and contraceptives comes after a campaign for improved access to commercial period products in a nation where only a tiny proportion of women currently use them.

Lawyers Ahsan Jehangir Khan and Mahnoor Omer are widely credited with sparking the national discourse in Pakistan after they took the government to court in a landmark legal case urging lawmakers to remove the so-called “period tax” and categorize menstrual products as essential goods instead of luxury items.

According to the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF, it is estimated that just 12% of women and girls in Pakistan use commercial sanitary products. Most others resort to cloth and other homemade alternatives, advocates say.

Impact

The UN Women agency welcomed the “important step” on Monday, saying that increased affordability of menstrual products will enable more women and girls to stay in the workplace and school.

Bushra Mahnoor, a reproductive justice activist, hailed the “symbolic value” of the proposed change. “More than the impact this tax removal is going to have in prices, is the impact it has in de-stigmatizing menstruation, and we should not take that lightly,” she said.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.