The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has coordinated with a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to introduce a period room for women within the community toilet. This room consists of proper water supply, a jet spray, sanitary napkin dispenser, a bottom lid dustbin to prevent any contact with it, hand washing stations, incinerator and recycle bins, hooks for hanging clothes, in addition to a urinal.
The Muse Foundation is the NGO that carried out the survey following which they proposed the idea of a period room to the TMC. This is a first for the state and has been established after surveying over a 1,000 women. These women belong to slum areas and are the primary users of these toilets. They had been facing a lot of difficulties during their menstrual cycles due to lack of sanitary facilities.
“A survey has been conducted in Thane through 2019 to study women’s menstrual hygiene practices covering 1000 women in 15 slums in Thane. The primary findings of the survey revealed the heavy dependency of women in slums on community toilet and the problems they faced to manage menstruation due to lack of water, unsafe changing rooms, absence of disposal mechanism for soiled napkins,” Manish Joshi, deputy commissioner, Thane Municipal Corporation was quoted saying in a report.
In addition to the facilities, they had also painted the walls of the municipal toilets in a colourful manner to make it seem more welcoming and conducive. The wall also promotes sustainable menstruation with essential points listed on it, informed one of the officials from the TMC health department.