Free The Period
posted by Suryah Ethridge | March 12, 2024 | In OpinionImagine getting ready for a vacation.; You have all your bags packed, and you’re ready to go. Finally, you reach your designation, and you’re going around the city and embracing all the views. Suddenly you have to go to the restroom, and when you go you realize you started your menstrual cycle, and you have no menstrual hygiene products.
What do you do? There’s no pads or tampons on site because the bathroom you are in doesn’t offer any products.
This is a scenario that happens all too often. Women who experience periods are sometimes left with no place to turn because public facilities don’t offer free period products. Most schools don’t offer them either, but what happens when a child experiences their first period, and they have nothing to use?
I believe that schools and other public places should offer free menstrual products such as pads and tampons.
How come it’s easier to get a free condom than it is to get a pad or even a tampon? You can even get free condoms from most high schools, but when it comes to menstrual needs, everyone is quiet and doesn’t want to talk about such a “dirty” thing. There’s even a lack of education surrounding periods. Schools should be required to educate everyone on menstrual cycles and teach them about the different menstrual products that can be used.
I think there should be programs that help offer free tampons and pads. In this economy, buying pads and tampons aren’t cheap. According to a study done in 2018, one fifth of American women struggle to afford menstrual products on a monthly basis. Having access to these products is health care, and everyone should have the right to access affordable healthcare.
To date, the only country in the world that offers free menstrual products is Scotland. In America there are a few states that have removed the tax off the products, but it still causes unequal accessibility to these products.
Policy makers need to stop policing our bodies and start focusing on keeping us healthy, and they can start by making menstrual products free.
Stock photo generated by DALL E
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.