An initiative for a better tomorrow

The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett a student-led initiative of the Times School of Media
By Shambhavi Upadhyay.

The COVID-19 pandemic cornered the entire world into submitting to the importance and necessity of sanitation and hygiene, but long before this people like Vikas Bagaria have been working towards improving the sanitary conditions of many with innovative products and campaigns such as Pee Safe.

Pee Safe is a hygiene brand that provides with a wide range of products such as toilet seat sanitizers, organic period and intimate and home hygiene products. “We started Pee Safe in 2013 from a personal experience when my wife and co-founder suffered from Urinary Tract Infection because of using dirty public toilets while travelling. That was when we realized the need for a toilet seat sanitizer spray and how products like these are something we are in dire need of, without being aware of the fact. It is from 2017 that we ventured into female hygiene and intimate hygiene for both men and women with an aim to improve the conditions in the country regarding this issue,” says Bagaria.

Feminine hygiene has been a taboo in the country for generations. Although, there has been a change in recent years with the youth talking and discussing such issues to raise awareness and create dialogue. “Our target audience is the Gen Z and the millennials. They want to make a change. They don’t beat around the bush, they are very vocal, bold, upfront and social media friendly about issues like sex, menstruation and intimate hygiene and that is exactly what we need. It is to target these people that we launch various campaigns. In 2019, we launched a campaign called, ‘Own the Red’, where for the first time we depicted the menstrual blood in advertisements as red and not the standard blue. It is absolutely imperative to acknowledge and work on these little things to make bigger changes,” he says.

With changing times, the needs of the modern consumer have changed. The youth of the country does not want to shy away and hide behind age old taboos. “It was on the demand of the consumers that we launched our female condoms ‘Domina’. They are the ones who encouraged us by saying that this is something they want to talk about, we worked purely on their demand. I think the time has come when barriers need to be broken. The very reason behind such different ideas behind campaigns and products is that our team consists of extremely young and energetic people. Their average age is around 23-25 and if they are given the freedom to express themselves on social media, they make sure they make every post worth it. All our campaigns are in house and all the credit goes to the creativity of the team,” Bagria added.

“The high of sanitation has gone down again after the pandemic. I believe we used to use more sanitizer sitting at home than we do now but the good news is that the pandemic made people concerned about hygiene. I know although awareness regarding feminine hygiene has grown immensely, it will still be some time till it becomes a household topic. Even the budget has given a concession to health and wellness, and anything that emphasis awareness and increases access is a good thing. I am sure it will also boost the sector of feminine health because as long as our women are healthy, our nation will remain healthy,” he said.

(The report has been written by Shambhavi Upadhyay , a first year student of BA ( Journalism and Mass Communication) of The Times School of Media)
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