Thread by @RedBoxProject

A THREAD

We’ve been challenged often since we began #RedBoxProject as to whether #PeriodPoverty is ‘real’

We’ve seen many more comments since @DavidLammy supported #FreePeriods legal campaign for free menstrual products in all schools, so felt a thread could be useful👇

Sceptics tend to focus on the cheapness of supermarket brands (a packet of 12 pads can cost less than £1) & quite often comment on what is seen as a carelessness/ imprudence on part of parents who fail to provide such products for their kids

There’s so much to unpick!

1) We know period poverty exists because we have independent data that tells us so, e.g.:

@PlanUK’s research found 1 in 10 girls were unable to afford menstrual protection

@YouGov research for @MayorofLondon found 14% of young women had had to improvise sanitary wear

2) It’s true that cheap products are available in supermarkets. But: they don’t suit everyone!

Some people bleed a LOT when they menstruate - cheap products are not generally as absorbent as other brands

Just because YOU can use these products, doesn’t mean everyone can

And if you bleed a LOT, you’ll probably get through a lot of products

£1 for a packet of 12 sounds great - but what if you need one pack a day? What if your period lasts a really long time?

And, supermarket brands might not be accessible for those who don’t live near a big store. They’re not sold in local/express stores, so you need to be able to get to a large supermarket

If you have to catch 2 buses to get your cheap products, you’ve rather mitigated the benefit

3) The cheapness or otherwise of period products isn’t really the point for many though

Because poverty is real

14m in UK live in poverty; 1.5m are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials

@TheIFS estimates 7% increase in child poverty b/w 2015 & 2022 - up to 40% of kids

Some people seem immune to statistics, but I implore you to:

- read UN rapporteur @Alston_UNSR’s report on poverty in UK (bit.ly/2H7apc1)

- follow @jrf_uk @CPAGUK

- understand the bipartisan @SocMetricsComm #NewPovertyMeasure

- BELIEVE first hand accounts 💔

If you live in poverty, if you can’t afford food - you can’t afford menstrual products, however cheap they may be

Period poverty is a facet of poverty (albeit one exacerbated by gendered inequality/ the stigma of menstruation)

If this isn’t your experience - GREAT! Try empathy

4) It isn’t just financial precarity that prevents children accessing the menstrual products they need

- Some kids don’t live with a parent they can talk to about periods, or they don’t live with their parents at all, or they are carers for their parents...

- Some kids live in abusive households where menstrual products are withheld as a form of control

- For some kids, the start of menstruation may bring with it other huge issues - arranged marriage, FGM - that they desperately want to avoid...

When people argue against the state protecting children because their parents should do it instead, what do they think should happen to the children whose parents are unable to, or won’t, support them?

These are children! They deserve to be looked after

5) Putting aside all of these points, there’s a fundamental issue to address - why are menstrual products not freely available at school anyway?

Kids aren’t expected to bring their own toilet paper - why is this different?

Periods should not be a barrier to accessing education

If you believe in this cause, & the importance of equal access of opportunity & education, please:

- support #FreePeriods legal campaign here: crowdjustice.com/case/freeperio…

- find your nearest #RedBoxProject or other period poverty fighting organisation & donate

- keep sharing! ❤️