Rising financial hardships result in individuals resorting to using makeshift sanitary items such as socks and news articles, due to the high cost of menstrual products during the living expense unaffordability predicament.
The cost of living crisis in the UK is affecting millions, with 21% of women and people who menstruate struggling to afford period products, amounting to an estimated 2.8 million people living in period poverty. This startling statistic is just one of the many challenges faced by those who menstruate around the world.
Period poverty, defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management, and education, is one of the biggest global crises facing society. According to ActionAid, at least 500 million women and girls globally lack access to the facilities they need to manage their periods. In rural western Kenya, a study found cases of sexual exploitation where women and girls were forced to engage in transactional sex in order to access sanitary pads.
In the UK, almost a third of girls and young women cannot access free period products at their school or college, a situation that has been worsened by the UK government's period product plan, which provides free period products to pupils who menstruate in their place of study, due to end in July 2024. The Department of Education has not responded to questions about whether it would continue the scheme past summer.
Poor air quality and pollution have been linked to an increased risk of endometriosis-a disease that can cause severe pain and heavy bleeding during menstruation. The Gift Wellness Foundation, an integral charity, is working to support women in crisis by providing non-toxic sanitary pads and helping facilitate fundraisers to combat period poverty.
Six out of 10 organizations that hand out thousands of free tampons, pads, and reusables each year have struggled to keep up with demand for period products in 2023. More than two-thirds of these organizations reported an increase in the level of need for period products during 2023 compared to 2022.
In India, those who menstruate can often be considered impure and unclean. Girlguiding, a UK-based youth organization, is encouraging visitors to its website to sign a pledge regarding how we talk about periods to end the stigma surrounding menstruation.
The UK government's efforts to end period poverty by 2030 have been hindered by insufficient funding, logistical challenges in distribution, limited political prioritization, and the impact of economic pressures such as inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Period poverty remains an ongoing crisis that is not being properly addressed, resulting in the suffering of millions of people.
It is clear that more needs to be done to combat period poverty and ensure that everyone who menstruates has access to the products and facilities they need. Organizations like ActionAid and The Gift Wellness Foundation are making a difference, but the fight against period poverty is far from over.
