OLTL’s Women's Alliance is a women's empowerment initiative aiming to alleviate women's suffering, raise awareness of women's health & hygiene, and promote equality for all.
At present, the Women's Alliance is working towards this goal through Vocational Training Programs, Distribution of Shakti Pads, and Awareness Campaigns on Women's Health.
Shakti Pads
The Problem
251 million menstruating girls in India do not have access to sanitary pads. This is called “Period Poverty”.
Women and girls in India, especially in low income communities, often face a lack of access to menstrual products. Without proper sanitary hygiene products, they resort to using newspapers, dirty rags, and even leaves to manage their periods.
The combination of period poverty, stigmatization, and inadequate reproductive and sexual health education has major consequences for girls’ wellbeing. It can also prevent girls from staying in school and discourages parents from sending their daughters for studies.
The Response
OLTL’s Shakti Pads are biodegradable sanitary pads made by local women and distributed to hundreds of women living in slums and construction sites.
The term shakti generally refers to the female energy because shakti is responsible for creation, as mothers are responsible for birth. Shakti also means Power, Ability and Empowerment.
The Shakti Pads program targets low-income and migrant communities, establishes Women’s help groups, and raises awareness about women’s health and hygiene.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING 
WOMEN’S HEALTH & HYGIENE EDUCATION 
PAD DISTRIBUTION Local women are recruited from low-income communities and trained in the manufacturing process of Shakti Pads. They are then hired and given an honest wage. While working for Shakti Pads, these women gain self-confidence and become leaders in their communities.
