News Analysis |
Malala Yousafzai recently joined hands with Twinkle Khanna to support Akshay Kumar’s upcoming movie ‘Padman’. Twinkle Khanna was invited at the Oxford Union as the producer of the movie.
The movie speaks about the stigma attached to menstrual hygiene in rural areas in India. Set in the remote part of the country the movie depicts the success story of a social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, who revolutionized sanitary hygiene by producing low-cost sanitary pads for rural women.
Malala says the movie imparts an ‘inspiring message’. “I’m really excited to see the film PadMan… because the message behind the film is truly inspiring,” Yousafzai told Twinkle before her speech, read a statement.
Malala showing her support for the movie should encourage Pakistan to also pay some attention to female menstrual health and help women without access to female hygiene products.
This is Twinkle Khanna’s debut movie as a producer and will release on January 25th, 2018. While addressing the students, Khanna explained the reason for her selecting a taboo topic like menstrual hygiene.
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“My primary motivation to make a movie on menstruation was to bring awareness to a subject that so far has been tucked away in shadows and like Voldemort is never mentioned.”
“In the beginning, I thought that period poverty was only a problem in my country and countries like Africa, Bangladesh, but groups like Plan International UK have found that one in 10 schoolgirls in the UK itself are missing school because they are unable to afford hygiene products and end up using substitutes like rolled up socks.”
Twinkle Khanna raised the fact that pads are still a luxury item and governments in countries like India have imposed heavy taxes on it.
Malala says the movie imparts an ‘inspiring message’. “I’m really excited to see the film PadMan… because the message behind the film is truly inspiring,” Yousafzai told Twinkle before her speech, read a statement.
“Yet, pads are still seen as a luxury item. It is odd that pads are taxed at 12 percent in India but brooms are tax-free because it is more important that you keep your house clean rather than your body, and that America has taxes on tampons but Viagra is, in fact, tax-free, perhaps because policies are made by 65-year-old men.”
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Lack of coverage of this topic is a serious concern in Pakistan as well. Malala showing her support for the movie should encourage Pakistan to also pay some attention to female menstrual health and help women without access to female hygiene products.