Period Poverty and Breaking the Taboos

“‘Period poverty’ refers to having a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints.”

In September the Scottish Government announced that, through a £5.2 million fund, they would be providing free sanitary products to learners in education. Sanitary companies such as Always and Lunette have launched campaigns to help aid those suffering from what is now being referred to as ‘period poverty’. There is even a grassroots movement spreading inside football clubs across the country where these products are provided for free in woman’s bathrooms.

Half the population have been experiencing periods since the Stone Age yet it’s been something that has been ignored, belittled and used to stigmatise. It has only in the last century that, along with various feminist movements, any progress has been made at all regarding the subject. Thankfully we’re now a long way from the Kotex belt but only now, in the fourth wave of the feminist movement, are we fully trying to break the taboo that is periods.

It started in 2015 when protesting began over the ‘Tampon Tax’, a 5% tax on sanitary products in the UK as they were categorised as ‘luxury items’. This led to the already growing conversation about periods to explode online. Many protested by ‘free-bleeding’ (not using any products to absorb or collect their menstrual blood) which opened more conversations about disposable products and their effect on the environment as well as why anyone was being made to pay for them in the first place.

In early 2017, a school in Leeds noticed many girls missing school on a monthly basis due to being unable to afford necessary sanitary protection. The charity Freedom4Girls, a scheme that began in Kenya helping girls in third world countries by educating them and providing them with sanitary protection, were contacted to help remedy the situation and were left shocked that such problems existed in the UK. Since then the charity is determined to end period poverty in the UK and aims to help those in need to sanitary protection worldwide. This was when it stopped being about tax inequality and started being an educational issue.

Brands like Always rolled out a campaign in March of this year pledging to donate a pad with every pack bought to ‘UK schools in need’. Along with the hashtags #EndPeriodPoverty and #LikeAGirl they are aiming “to make sure every girl has the sanitary protection she needs to stay in school. Because helping her stay in education is key to her growth, building her confidence, and future, and empowering her to Keep Going”. TV star and brand ambassador Alesha Dixon appeared on ITV’s Lorraine to speak on the subject she described as “being very close to my heart”. The report stated 137,000 girls are missing school due to period poverty and that 50% of woman affected believed it has had a direct effect on their success, confidence and happiness (ITV Lorraine). Dixon went on to say “Being a teenager is hard enough, the last thing you need when you go to school is the worry that you can’t meet your basic needs.”

It was found that Scotland suffered from the same issues when a study conducted by girls’ rights charity Plan International UK found 45% of girls had to use makeshift protection from newspaper and socks because they were unable to afford the necessary sanitary products. In August North Ayrshire council became the first area in the UK to provide free sanitary products in its public buildings. The council had already made the news by providing the service in schools for the past year providing woman with 13,000 free sanitary towels and tampons. Joe Cullinane council leader stated “Sanitary products are a necessity, not a choice.  I wish for no women or girl here in North Ayrshire to find themselves in the embarrassing and often degrading situation of having to use improper sanitary protection simply because they cannot afford it.” He went on to say “After all, periods are not exempt from poverty – they don’t take account of what is in your pocket or purse.  Therefore, it is absolutely right that we should look at ways in which to tackle this gendered inequality.”

In September the Scottish Government became the first in the world to provide free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities. This £5.2 million scheme is aiming to end period poverty for 395,000 school pupils, college and university students in Scotland. Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell spoke about the initiative saying “In a country as rich as Scotland it’s unacceptable that anyone should struggle to buy basic sanitary products.” She went on to say “Our £5.2 million investment will mean these essential products will be available to those who need them in a sensitive and dignified way, which will make it easier for students to fully focus on their studies.”

The scheme’s primary aim is to ensure no person loses out on their education due to being unable to access the necessary products, there are hopes that it will also contribute to a more open conversation about periods and reducing the age old stigma associated with them.

One place you may not expect to see free sanitary products is a football stadium but that’s just what grassroots movement On the Ball (@OnTheBaw on Twitter) is doing. Started by a group of female Celtic fans, On the Ball believe “period products should be readily available and accessible at no cost, just like toilet roll and soap!” They also hope this movement will make periods less taboo and also increase visibility for female football fans making football clubs an inclusive space for everyone. The movement started in Celtic park but has grown throughout the UK with Everton football Club the latest to offer the service.

It seems that the stigma around periods had been preventing many of these issues to surface and it’s only now actions are being taken to break these taboos that we are now seeing the real problems girls, woman, trans men, gender neutral individuals have been facing and are facing with something their bodies are naturally designed to do. I for one commend all those who have been raising their voice in this issue and look forward to a future free from period poverty.