Virtual Marathon to Spread Awareness About Menstrual Hygiene in India

Over 23 million girls drop out of school each year due to lack of menstrual hygiene facilities. More than 71% of girls are completely unaware of menstruation, until their first menstrual cycle. However, the ground reality is far more horrifying than the figures and statistics. Period Pal by Laiqa is all set to launch Virtual Marathon pan India on 6th November 2022. The aim is to spread awareness for menstrual hygiene among women in India and raise funds for the advancement of menstrual hygiene awareness and infrastructure across India.

The ‘Virtual Marathon’ is divided into the following categories Step Up Run – 1 km, Fun Run 3.5 - 5 km; Half Marathon - 21.1 km; Mini Marathon -  10 km; Full Marathon - 42.192 km. Since it is a virtual marathon, the participants can run from anywhere across the world and participate in the biggest people’s movement to throw light on Menstrual Hygiene awareness and accessibility in India. The entire participation and tracking can happen through the Period pal mobile app. Further details are available on the Period pal website.

Period Pal by Laiqa is expecting the participation of over 1,00,000 people, collectively to raise funds of over INR 1 Crore. The upcoming  RUN FOR HER Marathon will have participation from individuals, schools and college students, corporates, celebrities, politicians, and other stakeholders across India to unify citizens under one banner for a cause.

The launch event will be telecasted as a live event on all social media channels and personal social media channels of Laiqa, Taapsee Pannu, Bollywood Actress & CIO, who will throw open the registration drive for the marathon. Multiple companies and educational institutions have signed up to be part of the registration drive on the launch day.

Post the launch event, registration drives will be conducted across schools, colleges and organizations across the country making this a national event with participation not only from the urban, aware, and woke crowd but from all sectors and tiers of the country.

Monica Bindra, CEO, Period Pal by Laiqa said, “ It is time for all of us to come together irrespective of who we are and stand up for the cause as one voice. Since the beginning, Laiqa's mission is to make people aware of the importance of menstrual hygiene and to help underprivileged menstruators to get access to basic menstrual hygiene products. For that, we have conducted awareness programmes and events and run the “ Buy one donate one programme”. As part of our mission, this marathon perfectly caters to spreading the word on this gap and helps to throw light and finally brings the change that we need to create an environment of safe and comfortable menstruation for all our women. ”

Manoj Prasad, CTO, Period Pal by Laiqa said, “ The whole concept of conducting a virtual marathon is to make this accessible to all the people across India, even the world. We are looking to make this the biggest movement that can bring people from various walks of life with everyone contributing to the cause of awareness and accessibility of Menstrual hygiene in India. Technology has helped to make this a truly global event rather than being restricted to specific pockets of users or geographies. This is a pure example of how Femtech is changing and impacting the lives of millions of people around the world. “

In addition, Period pal by Laiqa conducts Menstrual Hygiene awareness campaigns in various educational institutions and corporate organizations, increasing the availability of safe and hygienic products for menstruators. Also, webinars, workshops and installation of sanitary napkin vending machines at public spots have been consistently happening over the last few months.