Posts

, , ,

Campaigning to Address Period Poverty

Address Period Poverty
Period poverty affects those who menstruate in both developing and developed countries. According to the United Nations Population Fund, “period poverty describes the struggle many low-income women and girls face while trying to afford menstrual products.” Period poverty also includes a lack of access to hygiene and sanitation facilities to properly manage menstruation. The World Bank highlights that, across the world, “an estimated 500 million lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management.” Furthermore, “1.25 billion women and girls have no access to a safe, private toilet” and 526 million females have no access to any toilet. Despite this form of poverty affecting women and girls globally, period poverty affects developing countries the most. In many developing countries, 50% of all females resort to using “items like rags, grass and paper” to manage their menstruation rather than safe sanitary products, a 2022 article by ActionAid said. For these reasons, campaigns for governments to address period poverty are essential.

Comments from a Youth Campaigner

Sixth former Ellie Massey is a former member of the Youth Parliament for Northern Ireland. Massey played an instrumental role in campaigning for Northern Ireland to pass legislation for the free provision of sanitary products. In an interview with The Borgen Project, she highlighted that there needs to be further progress on the scheme within universities. Many tertiary-level students live away from their families and are already facing student debt in order to access university education, meaning that “period products are a lot less accessible for them.”

Massey speaks on useful techniques campaigners can use when campaigning to address period poverty. For instance, writing a personal plea for politicians and lawmakers to address the issue as opposed to “generic letters” that flood their inboxes.

Massey detailed that within a personal plea regarding addressing period poverty should be reasons why it is the politician’s responsibility to make legislative progress on the issue and specific details on the actions the politician can take to help.

During her time of campaigning for progress in the realm of period poverty in the United Kingdom, she wrote a letter to the education minister at the time, Peter Weir, and reached out to organizations such as the Human Rights Commission. She also interviewed students that period poverty affected and included these personal quotes in her letter to give it more standing.

Massey said that advocacy on the issue works better via in-person meetings or Zoom as politicians can put a face to a name and campaigners tend to argue points better when talking face-to-face. Once politicians actually realize the devastating impact of the issue, most of them are happy to help, so it is just about getting the message across in the most effective and impactful way.

Campaigning for Change

Amika George is a British youth activist who at the age of 17 began the Free Periods campaign in the U.K. to address period poverty and its impacts on girls’ education. The campaign began as an online petition after George learned that students in the U.K. would miss as much as a week of school per month due to the inability to afford sanitary products while menstruating.

Speaking on the issue, the activist commented to Cherwell that “the existence of period poverty only came to public consciousness as recently as [2018] when reports of girls routinely missing school because they couldn’t afford menstrual products were thrust into the media glare.”

“What’s been depressing since then is the lack of any affirmative action by the government, despite outrage and horror that girls were using socks stuffed with tissue or newspaper,” George said. The petition called on the U.K. government to take action by providing free period products to students who are eligible for free school meals and to work toward addressing period poverty.

Organizations Addressing Period Poverty Internationally

The Gift Wellness Foundation works to address period poverty in the U.K. and beyond. In August 2022, volunteers and Dr. Zareen Roohi Ahmed, the Foundation’s chair, delivered sanitary products to Syrian women across six refugee camps in Lebanon. The delivery included 500 boxes of menstrual products as well other essentials such as “shampoo, soap and washing powder.”

Commenting on the trip to Lebanon, Roohi Ahmed said on the Foundation’s website that the Syrian women refugees showed inspiring “resilience and bravery in the face of such upheaval.” However, “no one should be without basic menstrual products. The children in these camps need their mums to be empowered if they are to have any future at all.”

The Gift Wellness Foundation also donated sanitary pads to Rohingya women in Bangladesh. This took place within Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp, which is “the largest refugee camp in the world.” The Communities Against Poverty (CAP) Foundation runs a women’s health center in the camp, where many women give birth. In fact, “60,000 Rohingya women and young girls have given birth in the camp after being raped in Myanmar.”

The Gift Wellness Foundation provided more than 10,000 pads to support these women. Iqra International partners with the Foundation to give out sanitary pads in schools across the most impoverished areas of Bangladesh.

Looking Ahead

In the face of alarming statistics regarding period poverty and the impacts on female health and education, young activists and campaigners are taking a stand to create change.

– Claire Dickson
Photo: Flickr

, , , , ,

Celebrity Solutions to Period Poverty

Celebrity Solutions to Period PovertyCombinations of cultural stigmas and taboos, lack of access to menstrual products and inadequate sanitation facilities all contribute to period poverty. UNICEF highlights that 2.3 billion people across the world still do not have access to basic sanitation services. Each day, 800 million women and girls menstruate yet these barriers hinder them from properly managing their menstruation. Celebrity solutions to period poverty hope to address this global issue.

Period Poverty

The umbrella term of period poverty is used to describe “the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and educations, including but not limited to sanitary products, washing facilities and waste management.” Oftentimes, women and young girls in countries that prominently experience this form of poverty are ostracized from activities such as socializing or eating particular foods. Furthermore, the cultural shame that menstruators carry with them hinders them from going to school and work. Generally, this results in girls being uneducated, further exacerbating the cycle of poverty. As the issue of period poverty increases, celebrity solutions to period poverty help raise awareness and look toward ways to reduce period poverty.

Celebrities Fighting Period Poverty

  1. Hilary Duff. In 2019, actress Hilary Duff partnered with Naturalena Brands and launched Veeda, a 100% natural period product line. Duff made it her mission to provide affordable and quality menstrual products for women and girls around the world. She spoke about period poverty in an interview with the Morning Show, “It is horrifying that something like your period is holding girls back from being able to go to school for a week every single month because they don’t have access to proper supplies.” Veeda works closely with the Naturalena Foundation which had donated more than three million feminine hygiene products to more than 10 countries.
  2. Gina Rodriguez. Actress Gina Rodriguez wrote an article for Teen Vogue in August 2018 in which she reflected on how different her life would have been if she had personally been impacted by period poverty. After learning about how many girls could not go to school because of their menstrual cycles, Rodriguez partnered with Always for the #EndPeriodPoverty campaign. The campaign aims to ensure that women and girls always feel supported so that their periods do not hold them back from living up to their fullest potential. Though the campaign addresses period poverty in the United States, it serves to raise awareness about the global issue of period poverty so that more people can become involved to take action globally.
  3. Amika George. In 2018, British activist Amika George was nominated for Teen Vogue’s “21 under 21” list by actor Emma Watson for her work toward achieving menstrual equality and ending period poverty. At the age of 17, after realizing that girls in the U.K. were not attending school because they were unable to afford period products to manage their menstruation, George started the campaign Free Periods to end period poverty. She also started a petition that received more than 200,000 signatures. This created awareness of the issue and resulted in a period poverty protest of 2,000 people outside the residence of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.

These celebrity solutions to period poverty help create awareness and address a global issue that prevents girls and women around the world from reaching their full potential.

– Meghana Nagendra
Photo: Flickr

, , , , , , , , , , ,

3 Young Advocates Who are Changing the World

young advocates

Today, some of the most innovative, forward-thinking change-makers happen to be under the age of 18. Keep reading to learn more about these three top young advocates who are doing their part to address global issues from poverty to gender equality and education.

3 Young Advocates Who are Changing the World

  1. Zuriel Oduwole
    Since the age of 10, Zuriel Oduwole has been using her voice to spread awareness about the importance of educating young girls in developing countries. Now 17 years old, Oduwole has made a difference in girls’ education and gender issues in Africa by meeting with and interviewing important political figures like presidents, prime ministers and first ladies. To date, Oduwole has spoken in 14 countries to address the importance of educating young girls in developing countries, including Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania and Nigeria. “They need an education so they can have good jobs when they get older,” Oduwole said in a 2013 interview with Forbes. “Especially the girl child. I am really hoping that with the interviews I do with presidents, they would see that an African girl child like me is doing things that girls in their countries can do also.”

  2. Yash Gupta
    After breaking his glasses as a high school freshman, Yash Gupta realized how much seeing affects education. He did some research and found out that millions of children do not have access to prescription lenses that would help them to excel in their studies. Gupta then founded Sight Learning, a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes eyeglasses to children in Mexico, Honduras, Haiti and India.

  3. Amika George
    At the age of 18, Amika George led a protest outside of former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s home to convince policymakers to end “period poverty.” Period poverty is the unavailability of feminine sanitary products for girls who cannot afford them. Girls who can’t afford these products are often left to use rags or wads of tissue, which not only raises health concerns but also keeps girls from their education. In order to combat this issue, George created a petition with the goal for schools to provide feminine products to girls who receive a free or reduced lunch. As of now, George has mobilized over 200,000 signatures and helped catapult the conversation of period poverty at the political level in the U.K.

These three world-changing children prove that age does not matter when it comes to making a difference in the world.

– Juliette Lopez
Photo: Flickr