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The young lawyer taking Pakistan to court over its unfair ‘period tax’ | Global health | The Guardian

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Mahnoor Omer hopes the case will put public pressure on the government to make sanitary products affordable in a country where they cost too much for most women F or a 25-year-old, seeing her name written on official papers at Lahore’s high court was daunting. But the case of Mahnoor Omer v Federation of Pakistan has now had its first hearing and Omer, a young lawyer from Rawalpindi taking on her government, has moved from relative obscurity to becoming a headline-making activist. Omer is challenging the country’s “period tax”, which sees only a small proportion of women in Pakistan able to buy sanitary pads thanks to high taxes and duties which, according to Unicef, can add up to 40% to the retail price. One study found that only 16.2% of women in rural areas used pads due to the cost. The Pakistan government exempts “essential goods” from tax – currently the list includes items such as cattle semen, milk and cheese. So why, asked Omer, are the sanitary pads that are needed monthly by

Mahnoor Omer, a lawyer from Rawalpindi, who believes sanitary products should be classed as essential goods exempt from tax. Photograph: Mahnoor Omer/Instagram View image in fullscreen Mahnoor Omer, a lawyer from Rawalpindi, who believes sanitary products should be classed as essential goods exempt from tax. Photograph: Mahnoor Omer/Instagram Global health This article is more than 8 months old The young lawyer taking Pakistan to court over its unfair ‘period tax’ This article is more than 8 months old Mahnoor Omer hopes the case will put public pressure on the government to make sanitary prod

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