Women’s groups want the government to draw up programmes to provide underprivileged women with such products and to get them involved in hand-making them.

Sabah DAP women’s chief, Jannie Lasimbang, suggested that do-it-yourself programmes be conducted every month with the government providing the materials needed to make washable menstrual products.

“There are discussions and tutorials on how to make washable sanitary pads, as they are clean and reusable,” she told FMT.

Period poverty, or the inability to afford menstrual products and a lack of access to hygiene facilities and education, affects an estimated 500 million people worldwide.

Lasimbang said schools should also teach issues related to menstruation, such as taboos, the emotional stresses girls face during their periods, sanitary pad options and hygiene.

“We should normalise menstruation by starting the conversation and breaking taboos,” she said.

She said the welfare department and NGOs should identify poor households and work with local communities to determine those who need free menstrual products.

It is particularly important, she added, to identify migrant workers who cannot afford sanitary products.

Academy of Sciences Malaysia fellow Madeline Berma agreed that women should be trained to make their own sanitary products.

She said girls, especially from the B40 group, must feel confident using their DIY sanitary products instead of buying expensive disposable ones.

“Women need to be self-reliant and reduce their dependence on NGOs to provide free sanitary pads,” she said.

Berma said there was a stigma attached to using cheap sanitary products, which had to be overcome.

“The problem is not only about periods but the brand of sanitary pad they are using.

“Women are stigmatised by what brand of pads they use. They don’t want to be caught using cheap ones. Malaysia is a brand-conscious society,” she said.

She stressed that instead of having period spot checks in schools, personal hygiene programmes should be introduced and free sanitary pads provided to schoolgirls from Standard Five to Form Six.

“Girls must be taught that managing their own menstruation is part of hygiene,” she said.

Athena Empowers founder Anja Juliah Abu Bakar agreed that education was the main solution to period poverty.

“The education ministry should work with schools to identify students from poor households who are unable to afford menstrual products,” she said.

Her business, which sells reusable menstrual pads, was set up in 2012 when Sabah missionaries told Anja that girls were skipping classes to avoid embarrassment because they lacked access to sanitary products.

“That was when I discovered period poverty, and began investigating. I started Athena Empowers not only as a business, but to support girls who were suffering from this issue and to help save the environment,” she said.

Meanwhile, Berma suggested that the government include period poverty indicators in its e-Kasih database.

“The database should include data on the incidence of poverty, the number of girls who skip classes, women and girls’ level of awareness about menstrual hygiene, and the causes and impact of period poverty”, she said.

“With the e-Kasih database, it will be easier to identify the families that cannot afford menstrual products.”