Pakistan Removes Period Tax in a Major Step Toward Menstrual Equity and Women’s Rights

Human Rights Research Center
1 minute ago
3 min read

June 18, 2026

HRRC welcomes Pakistan’s decision to remove the 18% sales tax on menstrual hygiene products and contraceptives, recognizing it as an important step toward menstrual equity, reproductive health and women’s dignity.

Young Pakistani girl at a women's rights demonstration holding a protest flag, promoting unity and feminism. [Image credit: Beenish Sarfaraz]

Pakistan removed the 18 percent sales tax on sanitary pads, tampons, menstrual products, and contraceptives in its budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27, which denotes a major win for women’s rights activists and proponents of public health development. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced the measure on 14th June, and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar later confirmed it as part of a broader relief budget for citizens.

It is a long-awaited victory for women’s rights advocates against the ‘period tax’ and ‘pink tax,’ which constructed monetary barriers that made essential hygiene products less accessible to women and girls. Activists such as Mahnoor Omer and Mahwari Justice played a central role in advocating for the repeal of these taxes on menstrual products through legal petitions, public campaigns, and media pressure to demand that menstrual products be treated as necessities, not luxury items.

Removing barriers to access feminine hygiene products was an urgent issue for Pakistan to address, as both UNICEF and WaterAid data show that only 12 percent of women in Pakistan use sanitary pads, while many rural women rely on old pieces of cloth or other unsafe or unsanitary alternatives. Activists argued that removing the tax is an important first step towards ending period poverty, as affordability, stigma, school awareness programmes, and supply chains remain major barriers. The tax repeal followed a period of increased attention to protecting women’s rights, which encapsulates a broader mission that also includes restrictions on child marriage practices, reforms to inheritance rights, and protections against domestic violence.

However, serious gender justice gaps persist, including low conviction rates for rape, honour killings, acid attacks, weak implementation of laws and limited women-focused budget allocations. This step will officially take effect from July 1 and has been welcomed by UN Women as a landmark step towards increased standards of health, dignity, and equality in Pakistan.

Glossary

Contraceptives – of, relating to, or involving the prevention of conception or pregnancy.
Conviction – the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime, especially in a court of law. The final judgment entered against a defendant after a finding of guilt.
Exemptions – to release or deliver from some liability or requirement to which others are subject.
Honour killings – the murder of a woman or girl by male family members. The killers justify their actions by claiming that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family name or prestige.
Hygiene – the science of the establishment and maintenance of health.
Menstrual Equity – Menstrual equity refers to access to safe environments in which to menstruate, including bathroom facilities and clean water, as well as access to menstrual products that enable people to go to school, work, and engage in life with dignity.
Period Poverty – Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, handwashing facilities, or waste management.
Stigma – a set of negative and unfair beliefs that a society or group of people has about something.

References

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Pakistan Removes Period Tax in a Major Step Toward Menstrual Equity and Women’s Rights

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