More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since the latest Israeli offensive on the South and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Among the most urgent and overlooked needs is access to basic hygiene. For women, this includes something as essential and stigmatised as period products.
La’eeqa is 34. Dutch, South African, and of Indian background, she has been living in Lebanon for over seven years.
What started a year and a half ago as a personal interest in menstrual health slowly turned into an initiative she runs almost entirely on her own. “I usually do small initiatives around things I find important,” she tells me. “The pads were one of them.”Both her husband and she try to distribute pads in Beirut three times a week at night, after their jobs.
On weekends, they organise longer trips to Baalbek, Saida, and Akkar. Since the beginning of the war, they have dedicated all their spare time to this initiative.By putting a label with her number on everything they give, women have the autonomy not to speak to a shelter coordinator. “Anyone can call us, it’s all for free and we ask no questions.
You need pads, we’ll come and get them to you.”Even in moments of direct distribution, stigma persists. “Once, I gave a woman pads and she told me, ‘Don’t show people’.” Another refused to take them because there were men around her. “It’s very embarrassing for them.
I get it, but at the same time, I wish it would change.”What is hidden is not just the body, it is the conditions around it, the expectations, the control. And in that sense, something as simple as a pad becomes political: who has access to it, who distributes it, who is allowed to ask for it, and who is forced to hide it.When the war escalated, La’eeqa’s initiative shifted from awareness to emergency response. “People are living in tents, in shelters, on the streets. It makes no sense to give them products they can’t properly use.
Disposable pads are the most practical option right now,” she explains.La’eeqa fundraises, manages logistics, packs, and distributes, all alongside her full-time job. “We organise shows where all the ticket proceeds go to buying pads… ‘a bloody good night’ or ‘let’s have a bloody laugh.
’“My dream at the moment is to make this a long-term project, in a way that everyone will always have access to free pads.” she says. Because periods don’t just suddenly end after the war either.
