Menstruation remains, even today, a taboo, a stigma and an economic barrier around the world. Tackling period poverty by guaranteeing access to sanitary products is part of achieving gender equality.
Kerry lives in Scotland and, as a teenager, had to take care of her younger siblings because her parents were alcoholics who went in and out of rehabilitation centres. There was no money in the house, and the most pressing needs were food and clothes to wear through the cold Scottish winters. When she had her period, Kerry used whatever was available: socks, old fabric, toilet paper, because sanitary pads were too expensive for her. At school she lived in constant fear that they wouldn't provide enough protection. When her youngest sister got her period, Kerry felt even more ashamed: she couldn't help her maintain proper hygiene and was afraid to ask teachers or social services for help, because they would have realised the family's dire circumstances and might have separated them by putting them in care. Kerry is now an activist with the organisation Community food initiatives north east in Aberdeen, which distributes free sanitary pads to the poorest girls.
Gender equality is not a goal to be achieved solely in the workplace; it also depends on girls and young women being able to learn about their own body's physiology, manage their menstrual cycle without anxiety, and not be held back by it in their studies and, later, in their work. To be achieved within the next twelve years, the fifth Sustainable Development Goal of the 2030 Agenda — on gender equality — requires a strong commitment from governments to eliminate menstrual stigma and ensure that all girls and women worldwide have access to quality sanitary products at affordable prices, as Terre des Hommes has been highlighting for years on its blog Indifesa.
But if in our Italy of 2018 the words "menstruation" and "period" are still whispered because they are considered unpleasant, it is easy to imagine how this physiological phenomenon continues to be regarded as a true taboo in many countries and many cultures. To the point where women and girls "on those days" are considered contaminated, dirty, impure. They cannot eat certain foods (this happens in Afghanistan), they cannot cook (in Nepal), they cannot take part in religious ceremonies (in Nepal and in certain states of India). In Gujarat, also in India, women and girls are forbidden from washing during the days of their period. In some of the most remote areas of Nepal, women and girls are forced to leave their homes when they menstruate, despite this practice having been banned by law. Over the years there have been several victims, as women and girls are compelled to spend even the night outdoors or in poorly sheltered places, in a region where temperatures often drop extremely low.
For younger girls who are still attending secondary school, menstruation can represent a serious barrier to school attendance. According to estimates by Unicef, one in three schools worldwide does not have adequate toilets to allow female students and teachers to manage their needs hygienically and discreetly during their period. In low-income countries, the ratio is one in two. Beyond the lack of sanitary facilities, the problem is compounded by the fact that among the poorest sections of the population many girls cannot afford to buy sanitary pads and resort to old clothes, rags, and in some cases even animal skins, grass and leaves, thereby exposing themselves to the risk of contracting serious infections. Women's emancipation undoubtedly owes a great deal to the use of safe menstrual hygiene products, such as internal and external sanitary pads and menstrual cups, one of the most environmentally sustainable methods available.
A survey conducted in Bangladesh in 2013 revealed that 41 per cent of female students between the ages of 11 and 17 miss at least 2.8 days of school per menstrual cycle precisely because of the lack of these products. In Ethiopia, 51 per cent of girls miss between one and four days of school per month. By contrast, a study conducted in Uganda by the School of oriental and african studies at the University of London highlights how the free distribution of washable, reusable sanitary pads has a genuinely positive impact on girls' school attendance. Over a period of 24 months, reusable pads were distributed to 1,008 girls at eight schools in the province of Kamuli, Uganda. On average, during the period of the study, the girls increased their school attendance by 3.4 days out of every 20. In India, social enterprises such as Boondh are offering menstrual cups to the most disadvantaged girls at affordable prices .
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The inability to buy sanitary pads because one doesn't have enough money to cover this expense even has a name: period poverty. But this is not a problem that affects only the poorest countries: even in nations such as England, one in ten girls cannot afford to buy sanitary pads or other sanitary products to manage her period. This is what emerged from research conducted by Plan international Uk on a sample of one thousand girls aged between 14 and 21. Fifteen per cent of those surveyed reported having difficulty purchasing sanitary pads, while 14 per cent said they had borrowed them from a friend because they could not afford them.
It is safe to assume that if a similar survey were carried out in our country, the results would be no better. It is worth bearing in mind that in Italy, internal and external sanitary pads are taxed at a VAT rate of 22 per cent — the rate applied to luxury goods — while razors used by boys and men for shaving are taxed at 4 per cent. Despite an attempt to bring the matter to the attention of our Parliament two years ago, the issue unfortunately came to nothing.
In various countries around the world, the tampon tax has been reduced or even abolished entirely. Canada, for example, eliminated this tax on sanitary pads and menstrual cups altogether in 2015, also following the collection of over 74,000 signatures on an online petition. France, meanwhile, reduced the levy from 20 to 5 per cent. But it is the Canary Islands that became the first European territory to have completely abolished taxation on this product.
The most recent development in this field comes from India, where, following a popular campaign, the government decided at the end of August to scrap the 12 per cent tax on these products, thereby making them more accessible to the 43 per cent of girls aged 15 to 24 who, according to a survey, were unable to use them. During the same period, the government of Scotland, also thanks to pressure from activists such as Kerry, decided to distribute sanitary towels free of charge to all female students.