Together for a Period Friendly World: Atlas Pearls and Perfect Fit
It has been part of women's lives for millennia, yet it still has the power to attract stigma, silence and shame.
Menstruation is one of the most natural processes in the world. But for millions of women and girls, having a period means missing school, withdrawing from community life, or managing their health with unsafe alternatives because access to proper products simply does not exist.
For those of us living in countries where these products are readily available, it can be difficult to fully imagine what it means to be held back by something so fundamental. But in remote communities across Indonesia, including many of the villages surrounding our pearl farms, this is still the reality. Limited access to safe products, a lack of education and deeply rooted cultural stigma continue to prevent women and girls from participating fully in their daily lives.
Thanks to the efforts of dedicated companies like Perfect Fit, there are programs that provide support and education necessary to help turn this around.
Perfect Fit: Changing Lives, One Community at a Time
Perfect Fit is an award winning, women led social enterprise founded in Indonesia in 2018. Their mission is to empower women and girls with access to safe, sustainable period products while breaking down the taboos that keep too many silent. Through reusable pads, organic bamboo products and hands on education programs, they focus on three things: access, awareness and action.
In Indonesia, nearly one in four girls has missed school because of her period, a number that climbs even higher in remote communities. The environmental impact is equally significant, with a single person using up to 11,000 disposable pads in their lifetime, most containing plastics that take hundreds of years to break down. Since its founding, Perfect Fit has supported over 31,000 women and girls, diverted more than 6.2 million single use pads and helped prevent 18.7 tons of plastic waste from entering oceans and landfills.
Partners in Purpose
When Atlas first partnered with Perfect Fit in 2023, the connection was immediate. They were already doing incredible work in the kinds of communities we call home, and their values lined up with ours in a way that felt genuine and natural.
When women and girls have access to safe, reusable products and the education to go with them, they stay in school, they stay healthy and they stay connected to their communities, and that matters to us deeply.
It is also about the environment we share. Disposable products regularly end up burned or in waterways, polluting the rivers, mangroves and coral reefs around our farms. Reusable alternatives are a practical step toward less waste and healthier ecosystems.
Most importantly, this is not work any one organisation can do alone. Perfect Fit brings local knowledge, expertise and trust on the ground, and together we can create impact that outlasts any single initiative.
What We Have Achieved Together
Since 2023, our partnership has grown steadily. It began with Perfect Fit educators delivering health programs and distributing reusable pads to students across two schools in Alor. Each year, the program has expanded, reaching new cohorts of young women and building local capability through train the trainer sessions that enable our own teams to deliver the education directly. In 2026, the program broadened into five schools across Lembata and West Lembata.
To date, this work has reached 866 women and girls and supported the distribution of 3,464 reusable pads.
Practical, locally driven solutions like these create ripple effects, keeping girls in school, protecting the environment and building stronger, more resilient communities in some of the most remote corners of Indonesia.
To date, this work has reached 866 women and girls and supported the distribution of 3,464 reusable pads.
World Menstrual Hygiene Day: 28 May
Every year on 28 May, World Menstrual Hygiene Day brings global attention to the challenges still faced by those who have periods. The date is symbolic, representing the average 28 day cycle and five days of bleeding. What began as an awareness campaign has grown into a powerful movement united behind one goal: Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld.
A period friendly world is one where no one is held back by a natural bodily function. Where stigma gives way to understanding, and access replaces silence. This year, and every year, we are proud to stand alongside Perfect Fit in working toward that world.
How Can We Help?
If you would like to learn more about the incredible work Perfect Fit is doing across Indonesia, we warmly invite you to visit their website at perfectfit.co.id and discover how access, education and sustainable products are changing lives one community at a time.
