Asymmetric information in menstrual health and implications for sustainability: Insights from India

Abstract

This chapter explores how markets for menstrual products evolved and its implications for sustainability of menstrual hygiene management. The focus is on low-and middle-income countries where 85 per cent of girls and women of menstruating age live. I draw on a combination of secondary literature and focus group discussions with women from urban slums in India. My findings suggest that a tangled web of traditional taboos, markets, and government policies have merged to create and endorse asymmetric information in menstrual health that has promoted the single product category of disposable pads. This has deeply influenced the beliefs and behavioural practices of menstruating women, which in turn have adverse implications for environmental ecosystems. It also seriously limits women's agency in the choice of menstrual products as awareness of alternatives is negligible. Analysing women's responses when they are offered information on other menstrual alternatives suggest that as a policy tool, 'informed choice' has the potential to steer the menstrual health market in a more sustainable direction. These findings are even more pertinent now in the light of the supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.