Estimates have indicated that there are 35 million people living in Europe who are unable to afford a one-week holiday, with 7 million in Italy. Dealing with this widespread poverty, Italian women are at a greater risk of struggling to afford essential menstrual hygiene products every four to five weeks, despite needing them in order to continue functioning. Here is the situation regarding period poverty in Italy.

Efforts to Lower the VAT

In fact, in Italy, the normal VAT for tampons has increased tremendously, growing from 12% in 1973 to a staggering 22% in 2013. Efforts have since been made to lower the VAT to 5%, helping reduce period poverty. This tax rate often was for for luxurious goods such as wine or beauty treatments. As a result, the prices of period products could be up to €6 and would consist of traditional cellulose-based sanitary pads and tampons. This high tampon tax rate would be a significant expense since women use roughly 11,000 period products in their lifetime, using around 22 products every cycle.

By treating period products as a luxury good, Italy would be in stark contrast to other European countries, as Poland, the U.K., France and the Czech Republic have all lowered their tampon tax to 5%. Overall, Italy ranks six out of the 28 member states for the highest tax rate on feminine hygiene products. 

Italy’s lack of access to menstrual products is dubbed ‘period poverty.’ This is due to economic vulnerability due to the financial burden of having to spend great sums of money on these medically necessary hygiene products. 

Efforts to Eliminate Period Poverty in Italy

As a solution, Non una di meno was a feminist movement that brought light to period poverty in Italy in 2016. The feminist activists involved protested against the tampon tax by claiming that it was obscenely higher than the VAT applied to male hygiene products in Italy, which was around 4% to 10%. 

This motivated a political member in the same year, the representative of the Democratic Party Giuseppe Civati, to fight for legislation that would reduce the value-added tax from 22% to 5% in an attempt to weaken period poverty in Italy. Politicians scrutinized the proposal, demonstrating how the Italian government did not see period poverty as a serious issue despite how it critically restricts and disables more than half of the population.

Another feminist movement tackling period poverty took place in 2019, as the association Onde Rosa campaigned to have tax reduced to 4%, collecting more than 600,000 signatures for their petition.

The First Italian Menstrual Cycle Festival

With the government’s inactivity, the city of Milan held the first Italian Menstrual Cycle Festival, a three-day-long crowdfunding campaign that aimed to address the stigmatization surrounding periods, claiming that period hygiene products were not seen as basic necessities by the government. By raising awareness about period poverty, they were able to raise money, sending one pack of sanitary pads per donation to Ukraine. 

The Italian Budget Law

The approval of the Italian Budget Law in early 2019 created enormous tension between feminist activists and the government since it had one clause that lowered truffle mushrooms’ VAT to a mere 5%, therefore becoming a primary good. This was, in fact, the second VAT reduction for this product, which previously reduced from 22% to 10% in 2014. At that point in time, period hygiene products still had a VAT of 22%. This drew a lot of criticism that the government has not properly prioritized period poverty, despite it being fatal for many.

However, Italy reached two significant milestones. In 2019, an amendment signed with Women Intergroup for the Budget session lowered the VAT on compostable and washable hygiene products by 5%. In addition, VAT on sanitary pads and tampons reduced by 10% in 2022, an action that the Giorgia Meloni government reaffirmed in 2023, led by the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister in Italy.

Looking Ahead

Despite Italy’s attempts at reducing period poverty, when compared to other European countries much more work remains. For instance, Ireland completely abolished the tampon tax, meaning it now has a zero rate of VAT. By implementing more reforms that tackle period poverty, Italy can take a step closer to improving women’s health across the country. 

– Anna Mc Donald
Photo: Flickr