'Period tax'

It is deeply troubling that in 2025, Pakistani women are still made to feel shame for a natural biological process and must also pay a financial penalty for managing it. The imposition of heavy taxes on sanitary pads — a product essential to women's health and dignity — is indeed a longstanding neglect of gender equality in policy and governance.

Lawyer Mahnoor Omer's petition filed in the Lahore High Court rightly challenges what many have called a "period tax". Under the Sales Tax Act of 1990, locally produced sanitary pads are subject to an 18% sales tax, while imported pads and their raw materials face a 25% customs tax. When combined with local levies, the overall tax burden reaches nearly 40% — a staggering figure that makes menstrual hygiene products unaffordable for millions of women. In a country where the average monthly income barely crosses Rs35,000, a pack of sanitary pads costing Rs450 becomes an unaffordable luxury rather than a basic necessity. This economic barrier is compounded by deep-rooted social stigma.

In many households, menstruation remains a subject cloaked in silence, forcing young girls to navigate it in secrecy and shame. Only 12% of Pakistani women use commercial sanitary pads, according to Unicef and WaterAid. The remaining majority rely on unhygienic alternatives such as cloth or rags, often without access to clean water — practices that can lead to infections and other serious health risks.

Removing taxes on sanitary products should be considered as a step toward acknowledging women's dignity and rights. It is unconscionable that a government would tax menstrual hygiene while exempting products like shaving razors or aftershave lotions that primarily benefit men. The state must correct this imbalance and actively promote menstrual awareness in schools and communities to dismantle the taboos surrounding it.