Feminine hygiene manufacturers should be contributing funds to end violence – doctor

By MiNDFOOD

Feminine hygiene manufacturers should be contributing funds to end violence – doctor
Manufacturers of feminine hygiene products, including tampons and sanitary products, could dedicate a part of their revenues to support programmes that prevent violence against women, a health expert says.

Physical and sexual violence is a public health problem that affects more than one third of all women, equivalent to at least a billion women globally, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) study.

Effective programmes and strategies to prevent domestic and sexual violence, have been identified by the WHO and collaborators, but these are “hugely underfunded”, says Dr S D Shanti, associate professor of public health from the A T Still University of Health Sciences.

The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women received grant requests of $1.1bn, but awarded only $8.4 million – less than one per cent of the demand.

This, she says, highlights the problem of insufficient funding for public health in general, and especially for violence against women.

Global annual sales of feminine hygiene products are projected to total $15.2bn by 2017.

Even 0.5% of sales when donated to the United Nations could generate huge vital support for programmes in desperate need of funding, she says.

While any business can support the prevention of violence against women, the tampon manufacturing industry is “uniquely positioned to engage in corporate social responsibility by investing in the health of women, and reducing the harm and costs associated with violence.”

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