Mahnoor Omar is determined to repeal the ‘period tax’, a gross discrimination against women

At just 25 years old, a young Pakistani woman, Mahnoor Omar, has launched a legal battle that has written a new chapter in the country’s women’s rights movement. She has petitioned the Lahore High Court to repeal the ‘period tax’ imposed on sanitary pads made for women.

Currently, the country imposes an 18 percent sales tax on locally produced sanitary pads and a 25 percent duty on imported pads. According to UNICEF Pakistan, the total duty burden on pads, including additional local taxes and duties on raw materials, amounts to about 40 percent, which critics say acts as a kind of ‘punishment’ for women in a developing country. “It is actually a form of discrimination – taxing a biological process that applies only to women,” Mahnoor said, according to Al Jazeera.

Growing up in Rawalpindi, Mahnoor was a victim of fear and shame during her school days. “I would hide my sanitary pad in my shirt sleeve and go to the bathroom, as if I had committed a crime,” she says. A classmate once told her that her mother considered using pads an “unnecessary luxury.”

This experience made Mahnoor think – if middle-class families also have this view, then how terrible is the situation for teenage girls and women from poor families!

Today, the girl is standing in a Pakistani court and saying, “This is not just a tax case, it is a fight between women and the state.” This brave woman highlights how the “period tax” has made the lives of teenage girls and women the most difficult.

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A 2024 survey by UNICEF and WaterAid said that only 12 percent of women in Pakistan can use commercially produced sanitary pads. The rest are forced to use cloth or other materials, which are unsafe and unhygienic.

A pack of 10 pads costs about 450 rupees ($1.6) – which is equal to or more than the cost of a meal for a poor family of five in the country. If this tax is lifted, millions of women will be able to use hygienic products at affordable prices.

“If this petition is accepted, it will not only make pads affordable, but also change the attitude towards women,” said Hira Amjad, executive director of human rights organization Dastak Foundation.

“These tax policies are made by an elite class who could never imagine how terrible their impact will be on the lives of ordinary women,” said Ahsan Jahangir Khan, lawyer and co-applicant of Mahnoor. He added, “The Constitution clearly states that no policy should create gender discrimination. But this tax is an example of that.

Currently, Mahnoor is studying for a degree in gender, peace and security at the London School of Economics. After completing her studies, she wants to return to Pakistan to continue this movement.

Mahnoor said, “For me, this case is not just a court case, it is a demand and a feeling for justice. I was able to take this step without fear - that is my pride.”

In 2018, India, then Nepal and the UK also abolished the ‘period tax’. Mahnoor Omar is now the face of that movement in Pakistan. Her parents were initially worried that her daughter would not go against the state. But now they are proud. “They now understand why this is important,” said Mahnoor. “Because this is not just a question of women’s health, but a question of dignity, a demand for ensuring equal rights.”