Khan-Sharma: Ladies face sanitary care challenges

WOMEN in the rural Western Division are facing huge challenges on a daily basis despite Fiji's best efforts towards becoming a modern Pacific State.

This was the word from women and girls advocate and human rights lawyer Sabrina Khan-Sharma.

“One of the challenges I have seen women here suffering from is having access to sanitary care,” she said after an International Women’s Day celebration hosted by Soroptimist International in Ba.

“Rural women generally don’t have access to sanitary pads and resort to using other materials without having the knowledge or resources to understanding how to keep the use of these materials sanitary and safe.

“I have implemented a project which will not only help provide the ladies with cloth based sanitary pads but the project will also educate the ladies on how best to care for themselves during their monthly cycles using safe, clean and hygienic methods.”

Ms Khan-Sharma said she was prioritising the project because some women were using old newspapers and other items which were not sanitary.

“This project will be rolled out next month to women from Matawalu Village, Lautoka, all the way down the Coral Coast.”

Education Minister Rosy Akbar was chief guest at the International Women’s Day celebration.

Speaking at the event, she paid tribute to Ms Khan-Sharma and women from professional fields for their leadership skills and their efforts to improve the plight of women and girls in the West.