NZ has more to do to reduce period poverty

All women in Scotland will soon be able to access sanitary items without paying a cent, in a worldfirst move.

Following years of campaigning, Scotland has introduced the Period Products (Free Provision) Act, meaning there will be a legal duty on local authorities to make sanitary items available for people who need them.

Period poverty has long been talked about in New Zealand. This year, the Government took steps towards making sure young people can freely access sanitary items in schools.

But, according to an advocacy group, it has a way to go yet.

In June, the Government announced it was rolling out free period products to 15 Waikato schools as part of a $2.6 million investment to help combat poverty.

From 2021, all state and stateintegrated schools around the country will be able to opt into the scheme.

In a statement to Stuff, Women’s Minister Jan Tinetti said menstruation was a fact of life for half the population, and access to these products was a necessity.

She said nearly 95,000 people aged 9 to 18may stay at home during their periods because they were not able to afford period products. ‘‘By making them freely available, we support these young people to continue learning at school.’’

She would not commit to any moves to follow Scotland but said she was excited to learn about the measures.

‘‘I am particularly interested in what kind of impact it makes for all those who menstruate.’’

The Period Place co-founder and chief executive Danika Revell said it was a really big step that Scotland had taken.

New Zealand was also doing a ‘‘brilliant job’’ of making sure young people had access to products in schools, and that the feedback from students and their schools was being heard. Revell said the Government had made some great first steps, but there was more to be done.

She said she would like to see the Government fully commit to supporting the elimination of period inequity from Aotearoa.

She would also like to see period poverty treated as a sanitation issue here, ‘‘just like urination and faeces are a sanitation issue’’.

Menstruation was a biological process, just like going to the toilet, and not something that happened by choice, she said.

‘‘It shouldn’t be an individual’s responsibility to have to pay for it. It should be a wider society sanitation issue,’’ Revell said.