ISP Mumbai Bureau
Anisha Bhatia is the communications head of The Period Society. A Mumbai-based youth-led non-profit organisation that was launched in 2019 to work for female health and hygiene. With an all girls founders team, Anisha and her co-workers are working towards ending menstrual stigma in India through awareness drives, education initiatives, distribution and advocacy.
The 19-year-old Mumbai girl Anisha calls herself a “conversation starter on gender and sexuality based discrimination”. She says she works to wake people up and educate them about gender inequality, LGBTQ+ rights and menstrual health through social media and her work and interactions on-ground.
“My goal is to make the wrong rooms the right ones, and engage people in a way that they can be educated, empowered and liberated. I’m the Director of Communications at The Period Society, where I primarily head engagement, social media and organise educational sessions on inclusive menstrual spaces and menstrual health offline,” reads her social media credentials.
Anisha has spoken as a TEDX speaker, as a panellist on many occasions and worked with Teach One Each One initiative where her team reached out to underrepresented communities and led initiatives to equip them with life skills.
Anisha and her team at The Period Society comprise more than 300 people across India. They conduct live sessions with menstrual health and sex educators who educate people on menstruation. They also regularly hold free-of-cost webinars to impart menstrual knowledge.
The Period Society has chapters all across India under which they set up pad distribution camps and conduct menstrual health education sessions to explain the novel biological process behind periods and challenge the myths and taboos associated with it.
The organisation which Anisha represents has more than 30 branches across India. They have also expanded their work to international domain with its branches now working in Singapore, Dubai, UK and the USA. The branches help in fundraisers and also conduct educational sessions for the target groups. The organisation did not stop working during the pandemic. With the use of online tools, the volunteers reached out to women and girls in need across India and also catered to the provisioning and supply of hygienic menstrual needs through their volunteers.
The focus of The Period Society lately has been to strive for sustainable menstruation. The term means people in the menstrual time must have access to a stable water supply along with biodegradable and affordable sanitary products such as reusable cloth pads, menstrual cups which have minimum or no impact on the environment.
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