Access to menstrual hygiene management empowers girls and keeps them in school.
Ruby Cup is empowering girls by providing them with menstrual cups, a long-lasting menstrual hygiene solution that lets them stay in school and reach for all the opportunities that come with an education.

Menstrual cups like Ruby Cup are an invaluable product for women and girls in impoverished areas. They collect menstrual flow instead of absorbing it and can be reused for up to 10 years -- that means a girl can complete her schooling from primary school to college without having to worry about her period. The Ruby Cup is made of 100% medical-grade silicone, so it's safe and healthy.
Ruby Cup is a social company that works on a one-for-one model: for every menstrual cup sold in an industrialized country, one goes to a schoolgirl in Kenya. Because empowerment is essential to this project, every girl pays a small symbolic price, usually 100 Kenyan shillings, for her menstrual cup, helping her to feel ownership over it. Currently, the company is working to bring Ruby Cups to 5,000 girls through an Indiegogo campaign.
When girls can attend school without worrying about their periods, so many doors open up for them. Education is an essential route to social, economic, and political empowerment. Increased status and influence in their communities is one important step in creating a culture of safety for women and girls.
This post is a result of a discussion had by the Berlin OpenIDEOers group
/ March 2014.
6 comments
Join the conversation:
CommentMeena Kadri
An Old Friend
Jes Simson