--- description: The lawyer took the government of Pakistan to court to challenge its “period tax” last September and sees this case as just the first of many. title: Mahnoor Omer Is Challenging Pakistan’s ‘Period Tax’ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf255780ceb061c12/69b0485d6335627ac5baff03/Mahnoor-Omer_Rameen-Shahram-Khan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Feb 26, 2026 # Mahnoor Omer Is Challenging Pakistan’s ‘Period Tax’ by [Kyla Mandel](/author/kyla-mandel/) ## Kyla Mandel Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mandel is a senior editor at TIME.  Mahnoor Omer Mahnoor OmerRameen Shahram Khan As a teenager in Pakistan, Mahnoor Omer’s purpose was shaped by two pivotal moments. At 14 years old, dissatisfied with a major NGO’s effort to educate girls about sexual violence, she founded the Noor Foundation and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation. Roughly two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker in her house about the price of pads and tampons sparked a stark realization: not everyone can afford these essentials. The taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can [add up to 40%](https://clearinghouse.unicef.org/sites/ch/files/ch/sites-PD-WASH-WASH%20Knowledge%20unicef-Policy%20Brief%20%5FMHH%20Tax%20Reforms-2.0.pdf "undefined") to the retail price. In some villages you can’t find any, Omer says, because there is no demand for such an expensive product. [UNICEF estimates](https://clearinghouse.unicef.org/download-ch-media/8b46817d-29c5-4ef2-bf9c-9f5ab00e29ac "undefined") just 12% of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating. A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity. “Growing up and seeing how society has no justice for women has put this innate sense of obligation in me,” she says. Last September, she took the government of [Pakistan to court](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/03/the-young-lawyer-taking-pakistan-to-court-over-its-unfair-period-tax "undefined") to challenge its “period tax.” The case had its first hearing at the end of 2025 and is now awaiting the government response. (The Pakistani government did not reply to TIME’s request for comment on the case.) The suit has sparked a national discussion of a traditionally taboo topic. For Omer, that has meant talking about menstruation with her father and male cousins who’ve thanked her for standing up for their daughters. But she’s not stopping there. She is currently earning her master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, and sees this case as just the first of many. “I’m not free until every woman is free,” she says. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades—as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.” Mahnoor Omer Is Challenging Pakistan’s ‘Period Tax’ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/7377885/mahnoor-omer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/7377885/mahnoor-omer/"},"headline":"Mahnoor Omer Is Challenging Pakistan’s ‘Period Tax’","datePublished":"2026-02-26T12:35:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-26T16:45:27.642Z","description":"The lawyer took the government of Pakistan to court to challenge its “period tax” last September and sees this case as just the first of many.","url":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/7377885/mahnoor-omer/","keywords":["Women of the Year","list","franchise","Magazine","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf255780ceb061c12/69b0485d6335627ac5baff03/Mahnoor-Omer_Rameen-Shahram-Khan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kyla Mandel","jobTitle":"Mandel is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/kyla-mandel/"}],"creator":"Kyla Mandel","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf255780ceb061c12/69b0485d6335627ac5baff03/Mahnoor-Omer_Rameen-Shahram-Khan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/women-of-the-year/","name":"Women of the Year"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/7377885/mahnoor-omer/","name":"Mahnoor Omer Is Challenging Pakistan’s ‘Period Tax’"}}]}] ```