Chennai: Urging the need for affordable sanitary napkins, about 100 members including students, home makers and working professionals staged a protest at Valluvar Kottam on Sunday to voice their opposition to the 12 per cent Goods and Service Tax (GST) levied on menstruation products.
It was organised by Dhagam foundation, an NGO for empowerment of women and the Collective for sustainable menstruation. The protesters were seen holding a giant replica of sanitary napkin and placards with slogans like, “Periods are not a luxury”, “We are not ovaryacting” and "Your thoughts are gross, not my periods”.
The agitators said it is unfair to tax menstrual products. “We are a country where most women lack access to proper menstrual hygiene, and the government, instead of trying to change that, is moving towards making it more difficult, especially for those in lower echelons of the society," said Shruthi.S, a college student. However, there were a few issues between the police and the NGO for putting up posters as the cops considered it not “acceptable” in public space.
