With experience writing exclusive essays for ELLE UK on the subject of biracial identity and the responsibility of fame, it's a well-known fact that Meghan Markle has a talent for writing inspiring, educational and thought-provoking works on the subject of prejudice and the need for combined humanitarian action to fight injustices across the world.
So, it comes as no surprise that the 35-year-old actress has taken the opportunity to flex her ample writing talents to pen an online article about Indian girls being stigmatised for having their period.
As an ambassador for World Vision, who earlier this year visited Delhi, India to learn about issues affecting women and young girls in local slum communities, the Suits star wrote a piece in Time magazine about her experience learning about women's hygiene, healthcare, education and development in India.
Prince Harry's girlfriend wrote: 'During my time in the field, many girls shared that they feel embarrassed to go to school during their periods, ill equipped with rags instead of pads, unable to participate in sports and without bathrooms available to care for themselves, they often opt to drop out of school entirely.'
The Californian beauty, who is rumored to be leaving her hit TV show, to settle down with her royal beau, reported that 23 per cent of young women in India drop out of school due to menstruation, and shockingly revealed when a girl misses school due to her period, it cumulatively puts her behind her male contemporaries by 145 days.
'As a female in India, the challenge of survival begins at birth, first overcoming female feticide, then being victim to malnourishment, potentially abuse, and lack of access to proper sanitation facilities.
'Beyond India, in communities all over the globe, young girls' potential is being squandered because we are too shy to talk about the most natural thing in the world,' she wrote.
'To that I say: we need to push the conversation, mobilise policy making surrounding menstrual health initiatives, support organisations who foster girls' education from the ground up, and within our own homes, we need to rise above our puritanical bashfulness when it comes to talking about menstruation,' she added.
She finished her piece by urging women and men alike to help women in impoverished regions around the world to gain access to education.
'When we empower girls hungry for education, we cultivate women who are emboldened to effect change within their communities and globally. If that is our dream for them, then the promise of it must begin with us,' she noted.
The star – who accompanied Prince Harry at a wedding in Montego Bay, Jamaica last weekend – later posted a picture to Instagram of a poem by US-based writer Nayyirah Waheed.
It included the inspiring lines: 'I will tell you, my daughter / of your worth / not your beauty / everyday (your beauty is a given. every being is born beautiful) / knowing your worth/ can save your life.'
Markle captioned the post: 'To always knowing your worth.'
Sounds like pretty sage advice to mark International Women's Day, for us.
