By Siddhi Jain

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANSlife): Youth icon and actor Janhvi Kapoor says that it is "high time that we speak openly and freely about feminine hygiene care, and I think thats the first step in making sanitary pads and feminine care more easily available and accessible to a larger number of women in our country".

Kapoor, who is face of the brand Paree Sanitary Pads, features in a new TVC which shows her dancing her heart out even during her periods.

"Accessibility to sanitary pads is extremely important to a women's physical and mental health. Periods are a completely natural and healthy process in our body and I strongly advocate the need to encourage educational conversation around it," she tells IANSlife.

Sahil Dharia, Founder and CEO, Soothe Healthcare adds that: "Sanitary pads are the basic requirement and essential for every woman and access to them is very important. We estimate that the urban penetration of the usage of sanitary pads in metro cities is still between 40 to 50 percent. Less than 50 percent of the women are using sanitary pads in cities like Delhi or Kolkata which is quite surprising. In Tier-II and III cities, awareness is much lesser."

Last year during the first lockdown, the brand noticed muted conversations about women's hygiene and how women in need would procure something that is an absolute necessity for them - sanitary pads. In addition to the non- availability and less penetration, fear of leakage, lack of washrooms, and discomfort around men, cause menstruating women to not venture out.

Janhvi says: "Lack of access to feminine hygiene products during girls' menstruation cycle can surely hinder a girl from reaching her potential or performing at her optimum. During the entire cycle, there is an element of pain and a need for comfort. We definitely need the right and suitable products that will make periods as comfortable as possible. It is a very natural and healthy process that a woman goes through and we need to treat it as is."

Speaking about the association with Paree, the actor said it "has given me an opportunity to reach out to millions of young girls and encourage them to go ahead and live their life without periods holding them back. Because for period worries, you have Paree. Also, since the start of my career I have always supported Indian brands and it gives me pride to be a part of their journey and I look forward to this exciting partnership with Paree."

Asked if the cinema industry and media need to do more to positively depict periods on- screen, Jahnvi says "it should be advertised and spoken about more than any other product, because it needs to reach a wider range of people so that they have better access to it. I do think we need to encourage conversations about it, we do need to normalise it...".