Pakistan’s government plans to abolish sales tax on menstrual products, a sweeping new measure that reproductive justice advocates say has the potential to remove the stigma of ubiquitous social taboos around sexual health.
The plan to scrap the 18% sales tax on menstrual products and contraceptives, announced as part of the country’s budget last week, comes after a campaign to improve access to the products in a country where only a small proportion of women currently use over-the-counter period products.
Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb said Friday that such items are “essential to women’s health, dignity and full participation in social life.”
Aurangzeb said the government would also abolish taxes on contraceptives, citing the country’s “alarming” population growth. “Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of population,” he added. “Family planning is the government’s top priority.”
Lawyers Ahsan Jehangir Khan, 29, and Mahnoor Omer, 25, are widely credited with sparking a national debate in Pakistan after taking the government to court in a landmark case that called for lawmakers to scrap the so-called “period tax” and classify menstrual products as necessities rather than luxuries.
According to the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, it is estimated that only 12% of women and girls in Pakistan use commercially available sanitary products. Most others rely on cloth and other homemade alternatives, advocates say.
According to a legal petition filed in October by Khan and Omer, cost is believed to be a factor in the low uptake, with domestically manufactured products currently subject to an 18% sales tax and imported products subject to an additional 25% tariff.
Combined with other local taxes, women in Pakistan face a total surcharge of 40% on sanitary products, increasing prices for the most vulnerable, according to UNICEF.
While welcoming the sales tax proposal, the petitioners in the case, Mr. Omer and his representative Mr. Khan, are calling for a complete repeal of the entire tax system surrounding menstrual products, including additional taxes on the raw materials used to make sanitary napkins.
They claim that by applying the tax, the Pakistani government systematically ignores women and girls’ rights to health and education, hinders their ability to fully participate in public life, and violates Article 25 of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.
Khan told CNN on Sunday that the ongoing lawsuit “highlights the absurdity of the tax system” on sanitary products.
“If it wasn’t for the constitutional petition, the government wouldn’t have woken up to the fact that even the sales tax was wrong,” he said.
Other governments, including India, Nepal, Scotland and more than a dozen U.S. states, have made similar reforms in recent years to lower or eliminate taxes on vintage goods.
The UN Women agency on Monday welcomed this “important step”, saying improved affordability of menstrual products will enable more women and girls to stay in work and school.
Reproductive justice activist Bushra Mahnoor praised the “symbolic value” of the proposed changes.
“More than the impact this tax cut will have on prices, it will also help destigmatize menstruation, and that should not be underestimated,” she told CNN.
But Makhnoor, co-founder of Makhwari Justice, a Pakistan-based non-profit that aims to end period poverty and menstrual stigma, warned that the intervention “will not impact all menstruators in the country and certainly not the most vulnerable.”
It reported last year that as of mid-2025, nearly 45% of the country’s population will live below the World Bank’s global low-middle income poverty line of $4.20 (about 1,175 Pakistani rupees) a day.
But on average, a pack of 10 commercially available sanitary napkins costs more than a third of a day’s income, which may not be enough to last a woman or girl for a month.
After a hearing in late November, a Rawalpindi court ordered the government to “timely respond” to Khan and Omer’s claims, as stated in the petition, so that the case can move forward.
In a summary of its responses obtained by CNN earlier this year, the government denied such a tax rate was “excessive” and “discriminatory” because the structure was “designed to meet the country’s revenue needs to fund public services, including benefits for women.”
Now that the federal government has shared its response to Khan and Omer’s petition, the case will now go to closing arguments before being decided by the judiciary. If Omer and Khan’s case is successful, the ruling could prompt the elimination of all taxes related to menstrual products, including duties on raw materials, as well as import duties on imported menstrual products.
“Our fight is still ongoing, but we are overjoyed that at least the government has recognized that these are not luxury items,” Khan added.
