Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 15/Oct 05:50

A win against period poverty

BUDGET 2025 is the first to mention period poverty. This is historic. It is the result of global and local feminist activism to frame menstruation as a public health, human rights, and gender equity issue. Even menstrual pad and tampon advertisements have changed in the last decade, acknowledging the normality of human bodies bleeding monthly. Instead of sterile blues, increasingly, corporate marketing began symbolically associating red with empowerment, freedom, confidence, and even sisterhood. Yet, as Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo acknowledged, period poverty undermines the health and educational opportunities of those who cannot afford menstrual hygiene products, and therefore do not have equitable access to such modern feelings and experiences of empowerment and confidence when, for example, attending school or playing sports. Recognising this, St Lucia is one of the few Caribbean countries ahead of us in allocating US$250,000 for students struggling to afford feminine hygiene products. In his October 13 presentation, the finance minister proposed establishing a Women’s Health Fund with seed capital of $5 million, to be sustained through tax-incentivised individual and corporate contributions. This fund will be used to launch a pilot programme to provide distribution of free menstrual kits in educational institutions. He included providing education and sensitisation on menstrual health for various groups – including men and boys – to foster inclusivity and dismantle stigma. These are all the right words. In 2001, VAT was removed on pads and tampons. Like VAT-free food, these are basic necessities for approximately half of the population. Taxing them is sex-based discrimination, which intersects with class to more negatively impact people who menstruate in low-income contexts. However, period poverty refers to more than the cost of menstrual health products. It also refers to an underserved need for menstrual health education, and safe and accessible sanitation and hygiene facilities – meaning clean water, toilets with toilet paper, and disposal containers as well as privacy, dignity, and freedom from stigma. Such issues also affect those impacted by disasters, such as flooding. We’ve learned that the spectrum of experiences related to sexual and reproductive health and rights should be incorporated into disaster management. Here’s where the fund might also be helpful – mainstreaming period poverty as a budget and policy issue, not one of charity. Addressing period poverty also means having a robust health and family life education or comprehensive sexuality education programme in schools so that adolescents can ask questions about their bodies, reproduction, myths, and anxieties. I’m mothering a 14-year-old girl and can attest to the value of having the most basic conversations, including about sex, pregnancy, tampons, sports, pre-menstrual symptoms, pads with "wings," period tracking, and more. Recognising this makes period poverty a youth and educational policy issue as well. One of the first feminist organisations in Trinidad to embark on a "Safe Cycle" initiative of education and provision of dignity kids including “cotton underwear, recyclable period pads by The Lily Pads Project, sanitary pads, tampons, panty liners, heating pads and a menstrual health tracker” was Feminitt – led by young women and people all under 25 years old. In its 2021 study, 51.5 per cent of 509 respondents found period products were not affordable. Its report recommended a “period card” which could be implemented like the Food Card programme; a sexual and reproductive health hotline to provide telemedicine for adolescents and people who menstruate who are unable to travel to a health centre; increased research on menstrual inequity; and gender responsive solutions that also acknowledge the LGBTQIA+ community and people living with a disability. As well, Feminitt recommended “legislation that requires accessibility across various levels of state, programmes and agencies through a menstrual equity act;” collaboration among state entities and civil society in decision-making regarding solutions; menstrual health management education and training for institutions; and engaging men and boys. Subsequently, Crown Her TT was founded by medical and legal professionals with the support of corporate sponsors and the Rotary network and has amplified Feminitt’s recommendations and outreach with its own national campaign. In its 2023 survey of 504 women, more than half found period products hard to access. For NGOs and business partners increasingly on board, our politics and priority should be mentoring, allying, and expanding platforms for youth who are leading peer activism, such as Feminitt and other young feminist groups. Adolescents are especially (but not only) impacted, and we want our youngest generations to be the most empowered to engage these issues and shape state implementation. Work continues, but indeed the budget was a win for people who menstruate, girls and women. Diary of a mothering worker Entry 565 motheringworker@gmail.com The post A win against period poverty appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.