Vol.:(0123456789) Discover Sustainability (2022) 3:28 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00097-4 1 3 Discover Sustainability Review Enabling factors for sustainable menstrual hygiene management practices: a rapid review Sulochana Pednekar 1  · Shreya Some 2,3  · Kajal Rivankar 1  · Renuka Thakore 4,5 Received: 30 June 2022 / Accepted: 16 August 2022 © The Author(s) 2022 OPEN Abstract This paper highlights the crucial enabling factors in menstrual hygiene management. The use of products depends on various factors such as access to water, privacy, social, cultural and econmic. Gender equality and women’s empower- ment are integral parts of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Half of the world’s population are women, and women have specifc needs to manage the menstrual cycle during their lifetime. To manage the bleeding during the menstrual cycle, girls and women use diferent products, depending on their accessibility and afordability. They are (a) disposable—one-time use products such as disposable pads, tampons, and (b) reusable products—reusable products such as cloth, washable and reusable cloth pads, menstrual cups, and period panties. The literature search revealed that there are limited studies related to the use of menstrual products and the impacts of these products on women’s health and the environment. A rapid review of the literature identifed factors responsible for choosing a particular type of men- strual product, the perceptions of women using the products, and their implications on health and the environment. The study concluded with the need to study the type of menstrual products preferred by women using appropriate variables, address the issues of disposal systems, provide adolescent girls with adequate infrastructure, provide access to afordable sanitary products and gender equity to manage their periods with dignity, and increasing awareness regarding sustain- able/ reusable menstrual products, suggesting further investigation in menstrual hygiene management. 1 Introduction “Menstrual Hygiene Management should be universally recognised, promoted, and practised as a fundamental to good health, dignity and quality of life” [1]. Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) is the management of hygiene associated with the menstrual process [1]. WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene has used the following defnition of MHM: ‘Women and adolescent girls are using a clean menstrual management material to absorb or collect menstrual blood, that can be changed in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of a menstrual period, using soap and water for washing the body as required, and having access to safe and convenient facilities to dispose of used * Sulochana Pednekar, sulochana@unigoa.ac.in; * Renuka Thakore, RThakore1@uclan.ac.uk; Shreya Some, ayerhs7891@gmail.com; Kajal Rivankar, kajal@unigoa.ac.in | 1 Women’s Studies Programme, Manohar Parrikar School of Law, Governance and Public Policy, Goa University, Taleigao, Goa 403206, India. 2 South and South-East Asia Multidisciplinary Applied Research Network on Transforming Societies of Global South, School of Environment, Research and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani, Thailand. 3 Global Centre for Environment and Energy, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India. 4 University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK. 5 University College of Estate Management, Reading, Berskshire, UK.