From a menstrual cup, menstruation skirt to homemade sanitary pads, there are many inventive ways in which the menstruators around the world manage their periods, while battling the shame, stigma and taboo that continues to surround menstruation. Though thanks to the much-needed noise around period poverty in the recent years, our societies are increasingly aware of the fact that, for many menstruators, sanitary products are not readily available and/or affordable.

They are expensive, and being unable to afford them is the source of shame and stress for the many menstruators. Though millions of women and girls around the world are using other methods to managing their menstrual cycles as they are unable to afford sanitary products, they are in dire need of empowerment in menstrual health for environmental, hygienic and disposal reasons.

Recent studies have showcased the myriad surprising and innovative ways in which women and girls manage their periods, by fashioning their own sanitary pads and menstruation skirts from unexpected materials. Though those might not be a menstruator's ideal solutions, they do the job; while many are battling the social norms and cultural myths which perveive menarche as the gateway to adulthood by promoting and licensing forced child-marriage.

We are advocating for period empowerment to ensure that menstruators are not excluded from societies or discriminated against as the result of a natural biological process. They thus should not have to worry about where they might go, how they might manage their periods, or whether the appropriate facilities including running water and adequate disposal will be available and accessible.