Rolene Strauss and Miss World SA join hands to launch first biodegradable sanitary towels

As part of the Nelson Mandela Centenary, Miss World 2017 Manushi Chillar, announced the launch of the first biodegradable sanitary towel in the country.

She was joined by Rolene Strauss.

“It’s about educating young women about menstrual health. Then also providing them with the necessary menstrual pads, and this project is doing just that here in South Africa.”

“It has been so successful in India. And as Miss South Africa entering Miss World, I also focused on bringing girls back to school,” she said, going on to explain: “So in South Africa a lot of girls drop out of school because they go through their menstrual cycles. My project’s name was Bringing Girls Back to School, and it’s really something that I’m passionate about,” she adds.

It is her Manushi’s background in medicine that helped her come up with the concept.

“In [my] first year of college I realised that a lot of women came in with pelvic inflammatory diseases, and most of their history said that they had maybe used a dirty cloth or they did not practice proper menstrual hygiene methods. So that’s when I realised there is some work that has to be done,” she said.

The product will be made using banana fibers.

“It’s the start of women equality, because Nelson Mandela was one of the first people who believed that menstrual hygiene was one of the three things that caused inequality between men and women,” she added.