Women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, asking the court to declare menstrual hygiene products as essential goods. She wants these products to be exempted from taxes.

The petition says the current tax system is unfair. It argues that women are being forced to pay extra for a biological process they cannot control. Advocate Ahsan Jehangir Khan submitted the case on behalf of Mahnoor Omer.

The Federation of Pakistan, the Ministry of Finance, and the Federal Board of Revenue have been made respondents. The National Commission on the Status of Women and the National Commission for Human Rights are named as proforma respondents.

The petition refers to a Unicef policy brief. It explains that taxes on sanitary pads and the raw materials used to make them add up to a 40 percent burden. For every Rs100 spent, Rs40 goes into taxes. The brief notes that this places sanitary products in the same category as luxury goods, even though they are basic necessities.

The plea highlights that nearly half of Pakistan’s population is female. More than 62 million women are of menstruating age. Despite this, only 12 percent of women in Pakistan use commercially available sanitary products.

The petition also discusses “period poverty.” This is when women and girls cannot afford or access sanitary products, waste management, or proper education about menstruation. It leads to girls missing school. It forces women to stay out of the workforce. It also increases the risk of urinary tract infections.

The activist has asked the court to order that sanitary products be placed in the Eighth Schedule of the law. This would make them tax-exempt. If not, she requested their inclusion in the Sixth Schedule, which would reduce the tax rate.

The plea also gave examples from other countries. The United Kingdom, India, Australia, and Bangladesh have already taken steps to cut or remove taxes on sanitary products.

Speaking about the issue, Advocate Khan said it was “nonsensical” that cheese and flavored yogurt are considered essential goods, while sanitary pads are not. He said women are “being taxed for a biological function” simply because tax policies are made by institutions “full of men.”

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