Also, they acknowledge that engagement of young people and the utilization of online activism have helped them in this goal. The Pink Protest has accomplished to become a part of the change of two U.K. This included model Adwoa Aboah, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom Jess Phillips, comedian Deborah Frances-White, period poverty activist Chella Quint, and more. People held up signs saying “bleeding is not a luxury,” “ditch tax on Tampax,” “we are not ovary-acting” along with many celebrities and period poverty activists giving impactful speeches. On a winter day in 2017, the campaign gathered 2,000 people to protest.
Based in the U.K., The Pink Protest works with period poverty activists on the #FreePeriods campaign, to “call on the British government to put an end to British period poverty.” A teenage activist, Amika George, initiated the #FreePeriods campaign in 2017 after she read a report by BBC that 10% of girls cannot afford menstrual products in the U.K. Other than NGOs, period poverty activists create many campaigns that also work toward ending period poverty. Many nonprofit organizations are actively fighting against period poverty. One anecdote shared that a girl and her classmates suffered great embarrassment when a male teacher taught them about menstruation. In the U.K., 50% of girls feel ashamed of their periods. This fear is such that more than 50% of the population skips school to avoid teasing from classmates. In Uganda, 70% of girls feel embarrassed to be on their periods and are afraid of menstrual-related accidents. In Nepal, the community expels menstruating women to huts when they are on their period cycles because menstruators are perceived as impure. Furthermore, it keeps them at home when they should be at school - affecting their education and social life. Menstrual stigma causes women and girls to feel embarrassment and shame about their healthy bodies. Women and girls face period stigma every day. Some of the countries that abolished VAT on menstrual products include Malaysia, Lebanon, Tanzania, Ireland among others. The 2020 tax rate on menstrual products in Hungary marked 27%, followed by Sweden with 25% and Mexico with 16%. They are perceived as luxury products to millions because many countries still do not accept the products as “daily necessities” and still have not abolished the value- added tax (VAT) on menstrual products. This, even though these products are a necessity. Menstruation products are extremely difficult to access because of their high costs. Similarly, 65% of females in Kenya are unable to afford menstrual products. Among the 355 million menstruators in India, 12% cannot afford period products. Globally, a minimum of 500 million women experiences period poverty, every month. experience menstrual shame and around 70% of girls in Uganda are embarrassed and fearful about menstruating. While this accounts for a major portion of period poverty, the term also refers to issues of shame, menstrual stigma, and the lack of education about menstruation. People widely consider period poverty as insufficient access to menstrual products. This, in turn, leads to health risks such as significant bone mineral density loss.
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Moreover, other women resort to free contraceptive injections (which stops the release of an egg) when they cannot afford menstrual products. Some teenagers even use unhygienic insoles of shoes to substitute menstrual products, which may lead to further physical health risks due to bacterial infections. Due to insufficient access to menstrual products and/or menstrual stigma, schoolgirls often miss school when they are on their periods.
Countless women must choose between food and menstrual products.
Millions of women and girls around the globe are affected by period poverty every day.
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