Why the Supreme Court’s menstrual hygiene ruling may not be enough for schoolgirls

The Supreme Court ruling on January 30 recognising menstrual health as a fundamental right significantly expands constitutional guarantees, but experts have called for addressing stigma and implementing existing schemes for the verdict to resonate beyond the courtroom.

The court recognised menstrual hygiene as an integral component of a girl child’s fundamental rights. “The right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to menstrual health,” said the court. “Access to safe, effective and affordable menstrual hygiene management measures helps a girl child attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.”

Social activist Jaya Thakur had filed a writ petition in 2022 seeking uniform access to menstrual hygiene management facilities in schools, such as sanitary products, functional toilets, disposal mechanisms and awareness programmes. Thakur sought directions to address absenteeism among schoolgirls and the risk of their dropping out of education due to poor menstrual hygiene facilities.

The court directed state governments and union territories to ensure the availability of free, biodegradable sanitary napkins, separate toilets, clean water and safe disposal facilities.

However, experts said there are already several state and central government schemes which provide these facilities – like the Centre’s Samagra Shiksha for installation of sanitary pad vending machines and funding for toilets, or the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram for sexual and reproductive health awareness among adolescents.

Sunita Singh, a member of Sahyog, a non-governmental organisation working on sexual and reproductive health rights, told Scroll that existing schemes and policies are ineffective due to poor awareness and training. “There is a clear gap in planning,” she said. “Policies and schemes exist, but implementation fails because awareness at the school level is lacking.”

Dr Alka Barua, a member of CommonHealth, a coalition of individuals for maternal-neonatal health, told Scroll that the impact of the judgement finally depends on how it is implemented. “Courts can go only up to a certain level,” she said. “Implementation on the ground is the responsibility of the departments tasked with handling it, and that is where the real challenges are likely to arise.”

Biological reality

In its observations, the Supreme Court recognised that institutional neglect of menstruation can become a barrier to education for girls. Denying girls access to menstrual hygiene, the court said, “effectively undermines their right to participate equally in education”.

It located the recognition of menstrual hygiene as a fundamental right within the constitutional guarantees of dignity, health, equality, and education. Referring to the Right to Education under Article 21A and the Right to Education Act, which includes free and accessible education, the court said that “free” also means the absence of hidden costs that prevent attendance. Menstrual hygiene, it held, cannot become an “indirect financial or social barrier to schooling”.

Recognising menstruation as biological reality, the court said the absence of menstrual hygiene measures “entrenches gendered disadvantage by converting a biological reality into a structural exclusion”. This particularly affects girls from marginalised communities, it said.

It emphasised that the Constitution cannot accept discrimination based on biological characteristics, and that exclusion based on menstruation infringes women’s dignity, autonomy, and religious freedom under Article 25.

Here, the court built on its reasoning in the 2018 Sabarimala judgement, where a Constitution Bench struck down a rule barring women aged 10 to 50 from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. In that verdict, the majority ruling by four of the five judges had held that “menstruation is a biological feature and an intrinsic part of a woman’s personhood”, and cannot be grounds for exclusion.

Existing schemes

The Supreme Court’s powerful observations can bring change to the lives of schoolgirls but turning constitutional principles into reality will be challenging.

Government findings show that menstruation remains a major barrier to education for girls. According to the latest National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2019-’21, nearly one in four girls aged 15-19 has missed school during menstruation, citing pain, lack of facilities or fear of embarrassment.

Despite multiple schemes, this gap persists, say experts. Singh of Sahyog pointed out that the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram programme “covers nearly 90% of schools, providing free sanitary pads, and mandates teacher training” where sensitivity gaps exist. However, such training, she said, is “rarely conducted in practice”. Many teachers are “unaware that their own schools are covered under these schemes”, said Singh.

Barua of CommonHealth said that in states like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, sanitary napkins were not provided for free but at a nominal price of Rs 10 to Rs 12. “In rural areas, even this nominal cost is often not affordable,” she said.

At times, schools fall short of sanitary products. “In an entire district, only one or two villages have sanitary pad vending machines, and many girls stay away from school for the first two days of their periods,” said Singh.

Poor disposal is another huge barrier. There is “little to no provision for menstrual hygiene management on the ground,” said Singh. “Girls often don’t know where to dispose of sanitary pads because dustbins are unavailable, and many are forced to use the same pad for an entire day.”

Barua echoed Singh. “In many programmes where sanitary napkins were supplied, there was no clear education on how they should be disposed of,” said Barua.

Experts have previously flagged these shortcomings. In 2020, the World Health Organization’s rapid programme review of India’s Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Strategy and its successor, the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram, found “persistent implementation gaps despite improved policy design”.

The authors of the review said that the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram tried to improve where the previous scheme fell short – with better budgets and a clearer staffing framework. But it suffered from “rigid financial rules, poor coordination, delays in procuring essentials like sanitary pads”. Key posts were also left vacant at state and district levels, they said.

There is also a huge gap in awareness and training school staff about menstruation as a matter of public health and hygiene.

Dr J Kiranmai, an associate professor at the Institute of Public Enterprise in Hyderabad, said that in most rural government schools, teachers receive little to no formal training. “As a result, menstruation is frequently misunderstood and, at times, approached as a disciplinary or behavioural concern rather than recognised as a natural biological process,” she said.

In 2025, there were a series of incidents of schoolgirls facing scrutiny or being humiliated for menstruating.

In January 2025, the father of a Class 11 student in Bareilly, in Uttar Pradesh, submitted written complaints to district and state officials after his daughter was allegedly made to stand outside the classroom after she requested a sanitary pad while appearing for an exam.

In July, a school principal and an attendant were arrested in a village near Mumbai after allegations that 10-15 students were stripped to “check” if they were menstruating after blood stains were found on a toilet wall.

“Such experiences often lead to feelings of embarrassment, fear, low self-esteem, anxiety, and internalised shame about one’s own body,” said Kiranmai. “Over time, this can erode confidence, disrupt concentration, and create a sense of exclusion within the school environment.”

Kiranmayi said that educating girls and boys together can help schools move “from silence and shame to understanding and dignity”, ensuring that no child feels unsafe or inferior.

Taboos and stigma against menstruation are also widespread, adding to the difficulty in implementing already existing schemes. Barua said government schemes are well-intentioned but do not adequately take into account deep-rooted taboos.

“These include dietary restrictions and the perception that menstruating girls are impure,” Barua said. “Unless stigma and taboos within the community are addressed, the problem will persist.”