Period poverty has spiralled amid the crisis
Tina Leslie
WHEN toilet roll started flying off the shelves back in March, sanitary products were disappearing almost as quickly.
This forced some entering lockdown on their period to find alternatives, or go without. Long before Covid-19, this struggle to access menstrual products has been all too real.
Pre-pandemic, the people going without were typically asylum seekers, refugees, and the homeless, and people on low incomes.
According to a report released by Plan International UK, one in 10 girls in 2017 were unable to afford menstrual products.
New research shows this figure has tripled under lockdown. Gabby Edlin, founder of London-based Bloody Good Period, says more people than ever are asking for help. “We’ve given out about 11,000 packs of products this month, about five times more than normal.”
Across the country, the situation is the same. “It’s just gone mad, since Covid-19,” says Tina Leslie from Leeds, founder of Freedom 4 Girls. “We’ve been delivering about 1,000 packs a week.” With many outreach centres closed, period poverty organisations have had to adapt.
Bloody Good Period have been running a “take what you need” service from their storage facility in Alexandra Palace as well as sending out products and supplying drop-ins.
For Caroline Allouf at The Tricky Period, the closure of public libraries wiped out their service that let people collect products on a “no questions asked” basis, a real lifeline.
Young people accessing free products at school through the Government scheme can still benefit from this, despite school closures. They should get in touch with their school and request what they need.
However, for some, reaching out may feel difficult or embarrassing. Former MP Paula Sherriff used her time in office to challenge this stigma, becoming the first person to say “vagina” in the Commons.
Among those shielding for 12 weeks, Paula’s food boxes from the Government had toilet roll and body wash, but no menstrual products. “If you go into a toilet, and there’s no toilet paper, that would be an outrage,” she points out.
■ Taryn Everdeen is an ambassador with the #IWill campaign.
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