'Wants To Restrict Movement Of Women': Medical Aid Groups As Myanmar Widens Sanitary Towel Ban

Last Updated:April 20, 2026, 21:31 IST

Myanmar junta widens sanitary pad ban, claiming fighters use them, women face tripled prices and health risks, critics call policy misogynistic gender based violence.

Myanmar’s military regime is planning to expand its ban on distribution of sanitary napkins, claiming that they are being used to treat the injured resistance fighters.

The country has been reeling under civil war since 2021 after the military took over the democratic government and launched a violent crackdown on the dissidents.

“The [military is] saying menstrual products are used by the People’s Defence Force for medical reasons and as support for their feet and boots to absorb sweat and blood," AFP quoted Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a director at Sisters2Sisters, a women’s rights collective that supports fighters.

Though there has been no official statement on this, AFP reported that transporting pads across the bridge that connects Sagaing with Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, is completely prohibited.

Speaking on the claim that sanitary pads are being used to treat wounded resistence soldiers, Meredith Bunn, founder of the medical aid charity Skills for Humanity (SFH), said these cannot be used to treat gunshot wounds or even lacerations.

“A sanitary pad wouldn’t stay in place, wouldn’t soak enough blood and wouldn’t keep the area [clean]," she said, blaming the ban on “completely uneducated, misogynistic fools within the military".

Because of such restrictions, women are forced to buy sanitary napkins in hidden markets where prices have tripled from 3,000 kyat (£1) a pack to 9,000 kyat, AFP quoted Thinzar Shunlei Yi. The minimum daily wage in Myanmar is 7,800 kyat.

Meanwhile, several organisations have opted to distributing reusable pads but without access to water to wash them, these ccan cause health issues.

“A lack of menstrual equipment and areas to wash them properly can cause infections, irritation, UTIs and worse, which is why, until it became absolutely necessary, disposable [menstrual products] were preferable," Bunn said.

A leader of Pan Ka Lay, Henriette Ceyrac – a period education organisation – opined that this was likely the regime’s intention. “It makes sense actually that [the military] wants to restrict women’s movement even more. It’s basically gender-based violence," she said.

News world 'Wants To Restrict Movement Of Women': Medical Aid Groups As Myanmar Widens Sanitary Towel Ban

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