In 2018, Scotland granted students accessibility to free period products. In 2020, the year of doom and gloom, Scotland have become the first country to make sanitary products free to their whole citizenship.
Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products and pain relief as a result of financial restraints and/or cultural issues. For many women getting a monthly period is not just an inconvenience, it is a crisis. In some third world countries, women are forced to use animal skin, rags, tree bark and leaves. Many of these women have no access to clean running water or hygienic waste management.
It has been well established that menstruation is as much a bodily function as peeing. It is most certainly not a choice. The question is, would the government frown upon free toilet paper in public bathrooms?
Girls are too often faced with no alternative but to miss school or work, as a result of period poverty. They are forced to use alternatives such as, toilet paper or old socks to control their menstruation.
As we are aware, a global pandemic won’t stop this monthly bodily function for women. On average, 800 million girls and women have their period daily. As a result of supply disruption and border closures, access to sanitary products have become an issue.
According to Plan International, the lack of access to safe sanitary products during Covid-19 can increase the risk of health problems like reproductive and urinary tracts infections. This poses a threat to the health and safety of people who menstruate.
Period poverty is a prominent issue in our society and a major public health crisis. Many girls across the world miss school on a monthly basis, simply because they cannot afford sanitary products or pain relief.
It has a huge effect on many young women’s academic progress. Amika George, the prominent British activist said that up to “800 million girls around the world missed school for a week every single month, and yet no one was trying to solve this problem that shouldn’t be a problem.”
In 2019, the Irish Department of Health set up a period poverty committee. The committee included representation from various government departments and the National Women’s Council of Ireland.
A 2018 study conducted by Plan International Ireland found that the groups that are most likely to experience period poverty are low-income households, people living in direct provision and the homeless community.
One positive is that at present, tampons and pads are not subject to tax in Ireland. However, eco-friendly alternatives such as the menstrual cup are taxed at the highest rate at 23 per cent.
The weekly allowance for adults in Direct Provision is 38.80 euro. Many people are forced to forego other basic necessities such as food to facilitate their monthly bleed. This illustrates how people can be affected by period poverty when in situations out of their control.
Sanitary products shouldn’t be treated as a luxury item but rather a basic human right. The majority of females will have their period 13 times a year. This amounts to an average annual cost of 208 euro on sanitary products. Females in Direct Provision only receive 465.60 euro annually.
The Homeless Period Ireland (HPI) initiative was established in 2016. This initiative strives to provide access to feminine hygiene products across the country. They are 100% reliant on volunteers and donations from the general public.
Their volunteer drivers travel across the country with donations to Direct Provision Centres, Homeless Outreach Centres and Women’s Refuges. Their objectives are; breaking the stigma around menstruation, educating people, encouraging people to donate and ensuring that every woman in Ireland can have access to basic sanitary products.
Sex education has always been known to be sub-standard in Ireland. In turn, this has had an affect on period misinformation and stigmas attached to menstruation. It is vital that in pursuit of a change in legislation the curriculum in schools must change to support open conversations and eliminate shame and taboo. It is estimated that around 48% of girls in the UK feel embarrassed about their periods.
For many years, stigmas attached to periods have made associations with it like uncleanliness rather than seeing it as a perfectly normal biological function. Conversations around period poverty aim to spark legislative change and allow women to feel dignified rather than ashamed while menstruating.
As the #metoo movement gained the majority of its publicity and momentum from social media, it is the hope that #periodpoverty can do the same. A global conversation has begun to happen on the topic.
It is important that the conversation continues to put pressure on governments to make sanitation more accessible to the masses and vulnerable women. Menstrual Hygiene is a human right, it’s about time the world starts to view it as such.
Scotland is the first country to make such a powerful change to abolish period poverty, people of Ireland hope that we will follow in their footsteps.