Exclusive interview with a non-profit addressing menstrual health amid climate challenges

The Conference Corner – Organización Para Chicas

When the planet heats up, so do inequalities — and menstruation remains one of the most overlooked frontlines of the climate crisis. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change, especially against the backdrop of water scarcity, displacement, and social stigma.

As climate change alters resource availability and mobility, millions struggle to manage their periods safely. Yet few policies and strategies account for this reality. Responding to this gap, Organización Para Chicas (OPC) works to reframe what climate justice looks like through a multidisciplinary approach, advocating for situation-specific and practical solutions in vulnerable communities.

The Conference Corner sat down with Dr Andrea Rodríguez López, the founder of OPC, and Elisa Soto, one of the co-founders, to learn its story.

OPC Origin and Impact menstrual health

Organización Para Chicas is a non-profit that promotes gender equality by integrating menstrual health into education and policy reform. Through her master's dissertation on menstruation in India, Soto exposed its deep links to gender (in)equality: 'I found that some people may prioritise the education of boys over girls, depending on castes and personal beliefs, thinking that when girls start menstruating, they should get married'. UNICEF highlights that only 39% of schools offer menstrual health education globally. 

OPC was founded to combat this issue, and it relied on Soto's dissertation to change the law in Mexico to include menstruation in education. 'We teamed up with a lawyer, Gabriela Silva, and an environmental engineer, Andrea González, so legislators couldn't say no', Rodríguez López said. 

This multidimensional team worked on menstruation through varying lenses like health, law, and development. Their hard work paid off.

'We managed to reform the law to include equality, but not menstruation, which is still a win because education has a gender perspective', Soto added.

The reform officially acknowledged gender inequalities, promoted gender-responsive policies, and opened the door for relevant future reforms. While this change wasn't the full outcome they had hoped for, it represented a significant step among conservative legislators.

Is sustainability always an option?

Championing menstrual justice in vulnerable communities with a changing climate also means managing difficult trade-offs when sustainability and survival conflict. Climate change is worsening water stress and increasing competition for limited resources. By 2040, nearly one in four children will live in areas facing extreme water scarcity.​ 

This issue is prevalent in many communities, and OPC targets it by giving educational talks and donating menstrual products. Still, 'we can't donate menstrual cups just because they are good for the environment without understanding and considering the local needs', Soto and Rodríguez López added.

According to UNICEF, approximately 436 million children live in high or extremely high water insecurity, marked by scarcity and inadequate access to safe drinking water. In communities without reliable water sources, washable products like menstrual cups or reusable pads are often not viable.

In addition, other beliefs may prevent women from using said products to avoid drying them where men can see. In many cases, if water is limited, the women would not prioritise menstruation over drinking water, and some may have to walk for hours to collect it, increasing the risk of assault, particularly for women and girls.

Choices in Challenging Environments 

 Water shortages have contributed to 10 per cent of the increase in global migration, a trend worsened by climate change. Furthermore, migrants and refugees often don't know where they will end up, which makes them more likely to choose single-use products. During OPC's talks, Rodríguez López presents all available options so participants can make informed decisions and understand the environmental benefits of using period underwear, reusable pads, and menstrual cups.

'But ultimately, the choice is theirs', Soto said. Both co-founders explained that in an ideal world, everyone would be encouraged to choose the more sustainable option. Still, there are other factors to consider, like the availability of clean water and safe toilets.

Water, Information, and Dignity 

Reliable information is vital to address current challenges and the connection between menstruation and development. However, Soto and  Rodríguez López point to a lack of awareness in universities, where many students are unfamiliar with the environmental impact of menstrual products. They show students how reusable products can reduce environmental harm. In another initiative, they ran a workshop in prison to teach inmates how to make their own pads but soon realised the facility lacked water. As a result, they negotiated water access with the authorities in exchange for OPC offering the workshop.

'This is a win-win. When inmates make their own pads, the authorities no longer need to supply them', Soto highlighted.

Negotiating water availability revealed how fundamental resources shape what is actually attainable.

The Data Gap

Rodríguez López explained that one of the biggest challenges in Latin America is the lack of data, and most existing research focuses only on the social side of menstruation, while clinical, public health, and environmental aspects are still lacking in the region.

To mitigate this, they conduct field visits and questionnaires to gather data for research by talking to the girls after getting permission from their families and schools. OPC is currently working on a report in Chihuahua, northern Mexico, involving 700 Indigenous girls and 1,000 mothers and teachers. Moreover, Rodríguez López was the first to raise the issue of data gaps, remarking, 'we are working on it, but bureaucracy slows things down', she added.

OPC works with United Nations Population Funds and gathers feedback from the field, but much of the data remains unpublished due to limited funding. It also conducted research in Nigeria and found similar issues like limited water access. 'In refugee camps, the situation is worse because people can't move freely, rendering climate injustice more severe', Soto noted.

Scope and Disaster Response

OPC continues to work with universities, schools, urban and rural communities, and agricultural sectors to ease some of the challenges, even if they cannot change the broader situation entirely. 'We don't just go there and colonise with our idea, so changing people's mindsets without imposing our ideologies is how we drive change and impact', Soto and Rodríguez López explained.

Nearly 74% of natural disasters from 2001 to 2018 were related to water, and climate change is expected to increase their frequency and severity. In October 2023, Hurricane Otis struck southwest Mexico, leaving around 1 million people, a third of whom were children, in need of emergency aid. OPC took part in the response by providing menstrual products. Soto and Rodríguez López witnessed the surprise of those displaced and affected because nobody had included menstrual products as part of the assistance.

Now, OPC is working at the National Institute for Public Health in Mexico doing the first indicators of their kind on menstruation, as no country has them. Rodríguez López highlighted, 'The environmental aspect is factored into those menstruation indicators, including water availability and product waste management, so we hope that one day, policies can address the issue considering all these factors'.

Momentum in times of uncertainty

As the evidence and experiences show, climate justice cannot be separated from the lived conditions of those most affected. Yet advocacy is sometimes resisted, especially when the topic is misunderstood. Soto recalled trying to raise menstruation as an issue of equality at the Mexican Embassy in Ireland. She was eventually invited to speak two years later after the topic began gaining local traction. 'People often think this is only a problem elsewhere', she shared, 'but it exists everywhere, just in different forms'.

When girls must choose between staying in school or managing their period with dignity, and when a lack of clean water makes reusable products unsafe to use, it becomes clear that menstrual justice is a climate issue. For climate action to be effective, it must be context-centered and informed by reality. The path to climate justice starts by meeting people where they are.

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Featured images provided by OCP.