Chennai: The U S Consulate General, Chennai in partnership with Netflix, UNICEF, and SPI Cinemas hosted a screening of the Oscar-winning documentary Period – End of Sentence at Sathyam Cinemas, Wednesday.
The screening was followed by a panel discussion on how menstrual health and hygiene impact women’s social and economic empowerment, a press release said.
Coimbatore-based social entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganantham, inspired the short film. He invented a machine to produce a low-cost sanitary napkin in 2006, which transformed the lives of thousands of women across India and the world.
Participating at the panel discussion, UNICEF Communications specialist Sugata Roy said, “Addressing menstrual hygiene is imperative to achieve the sustainable development goals around girls’ health, education, and sanitation. It is also about gender equality by empowering girls and women by busting the age-old myths and misconceptions surrounding menstruation.”
The US Consulate General’s Acting Public Affairs Officer Moulik Berkana said, “Inadequate sanitation and myths around menstruation harm the development of girls and often prevent their full engagement in school, the workplace, and society. That is why my colleagues in USAID are working to provide safe sanitation facilities and education, to de-stigmatize menstrual hygiene and promote equity and opportunity for the most vulnerable populations.”