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An 18-year-old from Delhi, India, has been honored with a prestigious international award for his grassroots work to dismantle menstrual stigma and improve product access. Aadvik Jain launched Team Period to educate communities, after watching a close friend suffer from unaddressed menstrual pain.
Inspiration From a Friend’s Struggle
The initiative began in 2023 when Jain and his classmates were in the tenth grade. He noticed a close friend struggling through midterm examinations with severe menstrual cramps, which her parents initially dismissed as an excuse to avoid tests. After his mother intervened and teachers encouraged medical attention, the friend was diagnosed with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome and received proper treatment.
Jain told NPR that the experience opened his eyes to how concealed menstruation remains in India. He compared the lack of empathy for menstrual pain to how families immediately rally around other types of physical injuries, realizing that the deeply entrenched hush-hush culture around periods needed to change.
Growing Team Period
The project initially started as part of a school competition run by the student newspaper The Global Times at Amity International School. Jain teamed up with Shivansh Arora, Aaratrika Jha Anand, and Navya Manglik to form a four-person group. When the competition ended, Jain decided to continue the work because he wanted to create tangible change at the grassroots level.
Now, Jain leads Team Period, which he founded in 2024 alongside three close friends. The group tackles menstrual stigma through workshops, awareness campaigns, street performances, and efforts to improve product access. Jain is set to begin studying medicine and public health at the University of Bologna in Italy.
Creative Outreach and Normalizing Conversations
Team Period has used unconventional methods to spark discussions, including a dance drama performed before hundreds of spectators during a Hindu festival, flash mobs at shopping malls, and interactive carnival games. They also distributed red fabric patches and stickers to students to wear on their school uniforms, successfully shifting attitudes and reducing the embarrassment associated with visible menstrual stains.
The organization has also focused on practical logistics by installing a sanitary pad dispenser at their school and exploring better disposal systems that protect waste sorters. Jain noted that a workshop teaching middle-school students how to make heating pads from socks and legumes ultimately helped one young boy assist his 9-year-old sister when she experienced her first period at home alone.
Receiving International Recognition
On November 4, Jain was named among 198 young changemakers from 44 countries to receive the Diana Award, established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, to recognize humanitarian efforts by individuals aged 16 to 25. India accounted for 49 of the honorees, nearly a quarter of the total recipients.
While the honor does not include prize money, Jain explained that the international recognition provides vital credibility when approaching potential sponsors and partners. He plans to decentralize Team Period by establishing local chapters and bringing in multilingual volunteers as members disperse to different cities and countries for their education.
