By: Red Robbo

Red Robbo — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 18:09:33 +0000

In 2020 Scotland became the first country in the world to offeri free period products to anyone in need of them’ . This is undoubtedly a positive step, yet Scotland is just one of 195 countries in the world and the pace of reform is very slow and uncertain. Beyomd the UK & US, in India for example, 70% of women cannot afford to buy sanitary pads, and only 2-3% of women in rural India are estimated to use sanitary napkins according to 2016 data. ‘This results in women resorting to unhygienic practices during their menstrual cycle, such as filling up old socks with sand and tying them around waists to absorb menstrual blood, or taking up old pieces of cloth and using them to absorb blood. Such methods increase chances of infection and hinder the day-to-day task of a woman on her period’ (Counter Currents. 28 October, 2020). Affordability, culture, distribution, and paucity of clean water all complicate matters as does the safe, environmentally friendly disposal of used pads. The authors fail to address the obvious alternative of medically approved methods of menstrual suppression, where the need for pads, etc., is reduced or eliminated. Such alternatives are not free and do not register on the reformist radar.

Comments on: Paving the way for period poverty reform

By: Red Robbo