For many, that “time of the month” can be daunting, uncomfortable and even painful. It’s something to endure, mostly. A thing that your body does in order to keep working properly – it’s also a sign of reproductive health, so it can be a blessing in many ways.
But it doesn’t always feel like a blessing, does it? There are many people out there who don’t just menstruate and get on with their lives.
There are people out there who can feel the debilitating effects of having their period especially when accessing sanitary items, clothing or pain relief is a luxury.
This is a conversation that, only now, is getting the airtime it deserves – and the conversation isn’t happening quick enough.
For someone to have a period, and then cover the costs of managing this period in a dignified manner is a hefty expectation of our governmental systems. The expectation of financing and affording the necessary ‘tools’ to protect ourselves, and maintain good personal hygiene, falls on women.
But what happens when you can’t afford these luxury items? Period poverty. And it’s happening all over the world.
The incorrect narrative
Periods are a controversial topic. For many reasons.
You have those that deem it uncouth to discuss; those that don’t understand what they are; and those that don’t understand why it’s even a topic for discussion. But what you might find within these groups of people is a common ground: they don’t understand it, because they’ve either never had to worry about the cost of periods, or, they don’t menstruate.
I wonder which group Donald Trump would be put in for saying that Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever”. Charming.
There’s a lack of education and understanding around it, which ultimately means: it’s not backed by resources or government initiatives. With a man who used to run the United States of America suggesting that a woman interviewing him was asking pointed questions due to blood coming out of her “wherever” says a lot about those in charge making decisions on behalf of the female population.
If Trump wanted to read this article for his own personal education, he might discover that if there was blood coming out – due to menstruation – it would be from a vagina. How easy is that to learn and acknowledge?
The narrative and understanding of periods needs to change. A way to facilitate this change is through education and acknowledging period poverty as a global crisis, rather than an inconvenience.
The costs of being a woman
To help gain perspective, it’s good to look at the facts.
In 2018, the World Bank Group estimated that “at least 500 million women and girls globally lack access to the facilities they need to manage their periods.” For many countries around the world such as Kenya, Uganda and some parts of India, women not only face the issue of affording certain hygiene items, but the hygiene items just aren’t available.
If you had the choice between food or a sanitary item, what would you choose?
Essentials not being available mean that women across the globe are put at a health-risk with their entire well-being negatively impacted.
But if there are sanitary items available, it doesn’t necessarily mean all people have equal access to them.
Let’s look at the actual cost of being a woman in Australia.
Please note that these facts are based around the costs of sanitary items and pain relief in Australia, a first-world country and meant to provide context for the Australasian market. We recognise that even Australia is a more privileged country than many, but we want to emphasise the point that this is a global crisis with varying degrees.
The current costs of sanitary items and pain relief on the websites of Coles and Woolworths
These prices may, to some, look affordable. But if you break down the cost per sanitary item in the packs which are sold on the shelves of our supermarkets – if you’re lucky enough to live by a supermarket which many women in Australia don’t have access to, especially in Aboriginal communities – it is an extremely high cost for something that should be free.
Progress
People are talking about period poverty, but the issue is that those who can take tangible action against it aren’t listening.
Prominent figures such as Meghan Markle or Sean Patrick Maloney are shining a light on the stigma around menstruation.
Markle, in her many humanitarian efforts witnessed the “shame-filled reality” on her travels to Delhi and Mumbai with World Vision. Here, she met young women and young girls who feel so ashamed about their periods – and to avoid the shame – drop out of education completely. All because they don’t have access to sanitary items.
Maloney, a New York congressman tweeted his outrage at the fact that tampons for staff and guests were not considered an essential expense. The Committee on House Administration declined to cover the cost of sanitary items which came in around $37 USD. Maloney tweeted: “That’s ridiculous.”
What’s even more ridiculous is that within the costs that would be covered – as per the Members’ Representational Allowance – are things like tissues (okay); hand sanitiser (makes sense); brass bookends (what?); gavel sets with plates you could opt to have engraved (are you kidding me?) and embellished letter openers (what is wrong with the world?).
The conversation is certainly happening around period poverty and the cost of menstrual items. But still, out of all the countries on this planet, Scotland seems to be the only one that sees that free access to sanitary products as a basic human right.
Of course, we’re joyous that this is a step in the right direction, but it took until 2022 for one country to step up, change their governmental policies and breathe humanity back into the system.
As we begin 2023, we hope that Scotland taking this human step will encourage other countries to follow suit.
What KCG is doing about this
Period poverty affects girls, women and people who menstruate across the globe. Having access to sanitary items – free sanitary items – as well as other hygiene products such as toilet roll, is critical.
At Kimberley Care Group, all of our clients, not just those who identify as female, have access to hygiene products. We call it the Dignity Box.
We want to help our clients have access to the basics. This is why we will have the below readily available.
- Pads
- Tampons
- Roll on deodorant
- Condoms
- Small washing bags
- Small wet wipes
- Facewash
- Heat packs
- Pregnancy tests
- Feminine wash
- Paracetamol
- Nurofen
And, for any of our clients who don’t yet feel comfortable coming to collect the above themselves, our support team can collect a discrete, returnable bag (which can be refilled when needed) containing:
- 4 x tampons
- 4 x pads,
- Packet of wet wipes
- 4 x Panadol
- Hair bands
This is our way to address period poverty locally.
If you’d like to be in the know of what other initiatives Kimberley Care Group is working on, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
References:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/05/25/menstrual-hygiene-management
https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/globally-periods-are-causing-girls-be-absent-school
https://time.com/4694568/meghan-markle-period-stigma/
https://ethics.house.gov/official-allowances/members-representational-allowance