In January 2020, a scheme for schools and colleges across England was announced which aims to improve access to period products. Following the recognition that unequal access to sanitary products can have a detrimental impact on a menstruator’s education, this government scheme has been introduced to ensure that no one is held back from accessing education due to their period.
The scheme, which applies to all state schools, colleges and sixth forms in England, has been welcomed and celebrated by many as an opportunity to improve equal access to education for young people. A student may not be able to afford menstrual products, which may prevent them from attending school. Or, they may unexpectedly start their period or have forgotten to bring supplies to school; both of which may prevent a student from giving their full attention in the classroom. This scheme will not discriminate against those who require products from their school.
However, a recent BBC article, suggests that over 60% of schools and colleges in England have not placed orders for free sanitary products, despite the help from the Government being available.
Yet, a Bodyform research campaign, in conjunction with YouGov, found that more than 350,000 young people surveyed admitted to missing school because of their period. This equates to approximately 2.1 million hours. One can only imagine how many pupils have missed school since this scheme was rolled out, which could have been prevented or enacted upon by their schools.
Each school is required to set up an account in order to place an order for products. This process seems simple. The Government states that the provider, Personal Hygiene Services Limited (PHS), has been given the contact details of every eligible establishment and has contacted them all.
Paying for menstrual hygiene products is a frustrating challenge for people from all socio-economic backgrounds. As a natural part of life if you have a uterus, it is an unavoidable additional cost for half of the population. The main argument within the student community is that all menstruating students have regular access to free condoms (when only a percentage of us are going to want to use them). Why is this the case when all of us are going to need menstrual hygiene products at some stage? One is a choice and the other is nature, so it doesn’t make sense why hygiene products don’t receive the same treatment.
Students themselves have clearly recognised this period poverty challenge. Universities, societies and volunteering projects across the country that make or teach others how to make reusable sanitary products, have become ever-present.
Though the scheme continued throughout the pandemic, charities and campaigners are concerned that as young people now return to school, their institutions have still not caught up or even heard of the scheme as of yet. Gemma Abbott, from the not-for-profit organisation ‘Free Periods’ agreed that the Government “needs to take some responsibility for the fact that more than 60% of eligible schools and colleges have yet to sign up to the scheme” (BBC, 2020). She then added that ‘Free Periods’ had not been consulted or informed about the scheme, despite their expertise.
To ensure that no young person’s education is interrupted due to their menstrual cycle as promised, the Government need to publicise the scheme more widely. If the service provider, PHS, were to contact all of the eligible schools and colleges again; that would be a small but potentially very beneficial step.
In January, when the initial contact was made with the schools and colleges, these institutions would have been going through their own ‘normal’ stresses for that time of the academic year, without the added pressure of the incoming pandemic. So, it would not be surprising if a singular email from PHS would be lost in the inbox.
The ‘hoarding’ phenomena that occurred at the start of the pandemic made it difficult to purchase sanitary products anywhere. But, even without this problem, the price of these products in the first place would have made it impossible for some people to compete and to stockpile the necessities too.
Ministers should prioritise their promise; that no children have their education interrupted.
A Plan Internation recent research project found that three in ten young menstruators in the UK have experienced problems with not being able to afford or access period products during the coronavirus pandemic (Plan International, 2020). The study also found that a fifth of those surveyed found that their periods were a lot harder to manage when there was a nation-wide lack of toilet roll available. This provides an alarming insight into how young people are relying on toilet roll as opposed to substantial sanitary products to manage their period in the first place in ‘normal’ times.
With so many charities, organisations and student groups being willing to assist with the scheme and pushing the government to promote it, it lacks sense as to why they are not taking up this offer. Ministers should prioritise their promise; that no children have their education interrupted. The scheme is demand-led, so it is concerning that the majority of schools have not taken this opportunity and created high demand for such a vital scheme.
Caitlin Parr
Featured image courtesy of @SouthernSun via Pixabay. No changes were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Caitlin Parr
Caitlin is an MA student at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture alongside distance learning with the NCTJ. Outside of Empoword, she works in local news and radio in Cardiff, whilst also working with/writing for organisations such as Cardiff Women's Aid, Girlguiding and Change Grow Live. In her spare time she's a musician!