Survey says over 50% of educated urban men never bought menstrual hygiene product for partners

New Delhi: Over half of educated urban men have never bought a menstrual hygiene product for their partner while three in four women do not feel comfortable discussing periods with their husbands, a survey has found.

The everteen Menstrual Hygiene Survey received more than 7,800 responses from people in the 18-35 age bracket, including nearly 1,000 men -- most of whom completed their graduation or a higher degree.

As the world celebrates the global Menstrual Hygiene Day movement, Indian feminine hygiene brand everteen released the findings of its ninth annual menstrual hygiene survey.

According to the findings, 88.3 per cent of men do not take additional household tasks to ease their partner's burden during periods.

It also found that 69.8 per cent of men feel social stigmas make it difficult to discuss periods with their female partner while 65.3 per cent agree that there should be more emphasis on educating men on menstruation.

Three in four women do not feel comfortable discussing periods with their husbands, the survey found.

This step of including men in a survey on menstruation helped shift some perceptions as 41.3 per cent promised to educate themselves about periods after taking the survey while 27.7 per cent said they would listen to their partner's needs and provide support during periods, the survey report said.

Another 21.2 per cent of men said they would communicate more openly with their partners on the subject, it added.

Chirag Pan, CEO of PAN Healthcare, said men must unequivocally participate 'if we want to truly realise the vision of a period-friendly world'.

"If half of the world's population is unconcerned or uneducated about periods, the goal of a period-friendly world cannot be accomplished. In a society like India, where taboos make it hard for men to accept menstrual periods as a normal phenomenon, we have tried to make humble beginnings by including male participation in our everteen Menstrual Hygiene Survey this year."

Hariom Tyagi, CEO of Wet and Dry Personal Care, the maker of everteen, said the responses also emphasise a need for creating more awareness among men on periods.

"Nearly 90 per cent of the women said they did not feel comfortable discussing periods with their father or brother while three in four women (77.4 per cent) did not feel comfortable discussing it with their husbands. Only 8.4 per cent of women are comfortable discussing period-related issues with their male colleagues at the workplace," he said.