Indian Supreme Court tackles gender inequality with landmark ruling
Rebecca Root, IBA Southeast Asia CorrespondentTuesday 7 April 2026
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that access to menstrual hygiene facilities is a constitutional right and that the country’s schools must provide these to students. The judgment will help to address deep-rooted gender inequalities in Indian society and remove barriers to education for girls.
Currently, 28 per cent of schools in India lack usable bathrooms for girls, while a study published by UNICEF found that 23 million students drop out of school in the country each year after getting their first period. Further, a lack of accessible and adequate toilet facilities makes women and girls more vulnerable to violence and health risks, the UN has found.
The ruling in Dr Jaya Thakur v The Government of India is set to help tackle these problems. The case was brought by a social worker who claimed that the absence of sanitary products and decent facilities in educational spaces meant that the fundamental rights of girls were being neglected. In January, the Court agreed, ruling that menstrual health and hygiene is part of the fundamental ‘right to life and the right to free and compulsory education under Article 21 and 21A [of the Indian Constitution] respectively.’
‘The Court essentially held that female students were not being granted equal opportunities to their male counterparts because certain basic facilities with respect to menstrual hygiene were not being provided for,’ says Rajat Jariwal, an officer of the IBA Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee.
The ruling means schools across India must now install gender-segregated toilets with access to clean water, adequate hand-washing equipment, free sanitary napkins and effective waste disposal facilities. The Court also said that all schools should create what they termed ‘menstrual hygiene management corners,’ which would be equipped with spare clothes and toiletries, for example. ‘[The ruling] makes clear that girls are entitled not merely to formal admission into schools, but to conditions that allow them to pursue education with equality, dignity and continuity,’ says Rahul Narayan, an advocate-on-record at the Supreme Court of India.
[The ruling] makes clear that girls are entitled not merely to formal admission into schools, but to conditions that allow them to pursue education with equality, dignity and continuity
Rahul Narayan
Advocate-on-record, Supreme Court of India
To help tackle the taboo surrounding the subject, the Supreme Court also held that schools should provide menstrual hygiene education for both male and female students and train teachers on the needs of adolescent girls. Only two out of five schools globally currently do so, according to UNICEF. Education in this area will help to sensitise authorities, parents and students to the issues surrounding menstrual health and promote greater understanding and openness, which will greatly benefit society in the long run, says Narayan.
The ruling is one of a number of related developments globally as UN member states try to meet the 2030 deadline for the organisation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, SDGs four – which focuses on education – and six, which is centred around access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all, are most relevant. In Scotland, legislation to make menstrual products available free of charge came into force in 2022. Kenya, meanwhile, amended its Basic Education Act in 2017 to ensure access to free sanitary towels for girls in public schools. The government also launched a distribution programme alongside the change to legislation.
While the ruling is a positive step for India, to bring all of these changes into a common framework is going to be an uphill challenge, says Akhila Sivadas, Executive Director at the Centre for Advocacy and Research in India. This will especially be the case in rural areas, where sensibilities and attitudes differ.
Concerns were raised prior to the Court’s judgment about the cost to state governments of building toilets and supplying sanitary towels, says Jariwal, who’s a partner at Trilegal in New Delhi. However, the Supreme Court made clear that there’s an obligation for states to act on the issue under India’s Right to Education Act. ‘This is a part of free education because if [the issue] is leading to absenteeism or dropout then you are not providing barrier-free access to students,’ says Jariwal.
The private sector, says Sivadas, is stepping in alongside NGOs to support the distribution of different and more sustainable products, such as menstrual cups and reusable pads.
The Supreme Court, says Narayan, is aware that its judgment in this case alone won’t be enough to change the situation across India, especially as ‘there is bound to be some degree of discomfort on “separation of power” principles and courts supervising policy in a way that is more typically suited to administrators rather than judges,’ he says.
It’s for that reason that the Court will treat the matter as ‘continuous mandamus.’ This is a mechanism unique to India, says Els Reynaers, Co-Chair of the IBA Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee, and requires the central government to update the Supreme Court every three months on the status of the ruling’s implementation.
Reynaers, a partner at MV Kini in Mumbai, says the ruling could be the start of a broader shift in attitude towards menstruation. ‘Down the line it may start to influence how women look at it, or men,’ she says. In the meantime, there should be an increase in school attendance among girls, says Narayan, which could translate into greater opportunities for them to earn and eventually into broader economic growth for India.
Header image: Dartagnan1980/Adobe Stock