The campaign to scrap period tax in Pakistan

巴基斯坦废除月经税的运动

What in the World

2026-04-03

8 分钟
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Lebanon, Kenya and Jamaica are among the handful of countries that have gotten rid of the ‘period tax’ - the additional charge the government adds to the retail price of sanitary products like pads or tampons. Now, a new campaign has started to scrap the tax in Pakistan. According to UNICEF, the tax can add up to 40% to the retail price of sanitary pads in the country, making them out of reach for many women and girls, especially in impoverished communities. Mahnoor Omer, the 25-year-old lawyer from Pakistan who has started a legal case to cut the tax, talks us through attitudes to periods in her home country and explains why this campaign is so important to her. And we hear from young women in Pakistan who tell us what they think of the tax. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producer: Chelsea Coates and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Harriet Oliver
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  • Hey, it's Ikra and this is What's in the World from the BBC World Service.

  • And I wanted to introduce you to Manur Omer.

  • She's a 25-year-old woman who's challenging her government over the price of period products in Pakistan.

  • It's not just, to me, a tax on pads.

  • To me, it's a tax on going to school.

  • It's a tax on playing sports.

  • It's a tax on, you know, going to work, being comfortable, leaving your house.

  • Girls drop out of school because of this. 34% of girls are out of school in Pakistan compared to only 22% of boys.

  • But before we hear from Manur, let 's talk about the situation with period product tax across the world

  • because it 's quite a mixed picture.

  • So tax is an additional charge added by the government.

  • So when you buy something, a shop gets a price of the product, but the government gets the extra tax money.

  • Countries like Tanzania, Argentina and Hungary all tax period products.