Tackling period poverty and the stigma surrounding menstruation in a sustainable, collaborative and ethical way.
Our vision is that menstruation becomes an experience that is empowering for people and kind to the planet. There is both a wealth and geographical divide in terms of using safe and hygienic period products, a basic human right which should be afforded to all menstruating people equally.
The women who we employ come from various disadvantaged backgrounds, many widows and single mothers trying to support their families, and some, victims of domestic abuse and violence. For many, they dropped out of school at a young age and working at the Her Shakti Centre is often their first experience of employment. By employing them we wish to give them both a source of income, as well as help them learn new skills. Through our sewing and sales training, we set out to build the confidence of our beneficiaries and increase their employability and independence.
Our Edinburgh team does the crucial work of fundraising, introducing our pads to the UK market and outreach. With an already vast repertoire of past fundraising events and stalls, the team is constantly striving to create new ways to support the Her Shakti Centre and our beneficiaries.
Our founder Bharat set out to tackle period poverty in his hometown of Bhind. While at university, he formed Sanitree the social enterprise in September 2017 under the society Enactus Edinburgh. Our first goal is now complete: Sanitree ran our pilot scheme in Bhind by January 2018, which, through the skill of our beneficiaries there, is now totally self-sufficient.
