‘X’ Marks the Spot
While the American election this November has certainly taken centre stage in global news over the past few months, 2024 has actually had at least 64 elections scheduled or expected worldwide, including European Union elections. This represents around 49% of the global population, going to the polls this year. While there is a range of how ‘free’ and ‘fair’ all of these elections will be and have been, their results will have major impacts on people’s quality of life, particularly as reproductive healthcare has become a key issue during elections. Access to abortion, tax on and prices of menstrual products, access to IVF, and waiting times for specialist procedures (like key-hole surgery to diagnose endometriosis) are just some of the ways reproductive rights and care can be impacted by who wins and who loses.
Isn’t it interesting then, that despite women making up half of the population, issues that affect their economic and political participation are often swept under the rug and left unaddressed during election campaigns and policy announcements.
About 500 million women and girls face difficulty in accessing menstrual products and safe, private, hygienic spaces where they can use them. Such difficulties, compounded by the still ever-present menstruation related stigma, have extensive negative impacts on women and girls- not least of which is the limiting effects on their economic participation and participation in public life.
There are several policy approaches governments can try to make period products more accessible and improve period dignity. Reduction or elimination of taxes on period products or the materials used to make them has become a prominent global strategy. Other policy options include the distribution of period products at no or at subsidised cost, especially for low-income groups and in public places such as schools and shelters. Subsidies can also be used as incentives to encourage entrepreneurs locally to produce their own products. Direct conditional cash transfers can also be used as a tool, which can involve providing discount cards to be used when buying menstrual products. This provides a level of autonomy, and empowerment by providing women the opportunity to buy period products themselves. Furthermore, when people are enabled to buy menstrual products themselves, it has the potential to change perceptions and find value in such products. Ensuring quality standards for menstrual products are in place, is another tool that can be used to increase the use and trust of menstrual products [More here].
While improving uptake of menstrual products is one facet, improving sanitation and social infrastructure will help provide and improve access to the safe, clean, hygienic spaces for the use of menstrual products that so many women and girls lack.
Such policies are important, and are key ways of improving access to period products globally and improving period dignity. But they should exist on a background of reducing stigma around periods, one of the biggest barriers faced by people who have periods. Tackling this stigma needs to start from childhood. Currently, when menstrual education is provided it is usually only provided to girls. Educating all children about periods would demonstrate that menstruation is a normal bodily function that should not be associated with shame and exclusion. Furthermore, improved toilet and sanitation facilities in schools in developing countries would reduce the number of days of school that girls miss because of their periods. Education is the first step to economic empowerment.
Be it not being able to afford period products, experienced by 11 million women in the USA, or even having to choose between buying food or menstrual products, experienced by 5.5 million menstruators in the US, negative experiences of menstruating can lead to distraction, absenteeism, and dropping out of university. Those who drop out have difficulty finding work and often end up working low paid jobs with little job security. This predisposes them to further financial issues and economic poverty, thereby perpetuating a cycle from which it is difficult to free oneself. Period poverty is further perpetuated by stigma and lack of information and education, affecting not only menstruators themselves lacking awareness about periods but also policy and decision-makers who lack comprehensive menstrual education.
Accessing even primary education, and work, is difficult for many, especially when 1.5 billion people still lack basic sanitation services. With at least 1 in 10 women and girls in rural areas across 12 countries not having a private place to wash and change during their last period. Lack of access to safe and hygienic places to use period products keeps people away from school or work. There are 300 million people menstruating worldwide on any given day. A quarter of girls in India did not attend school during menstruation due to a lack of adequate toilets; in South Sudan 57% of adolescent girls surveyed said they stayed home during their period due to a lack of private changing rooms; in Kenya 95% of menstruating girls missed 1-3 days of school, 70% had a negative impact on their grades, and over 50% said they were falling behind in school because of menstruation.
Access to safe and affordable menstrual materials not only helps women have dignity, but it has significant benefits for their overall health. The risk of infection is decreased, which has a cascade of impacts, including reducing teen pregnancy, and improving maternal outcomes and fertility. Good menstrual hygiene and access to affordable menstrual products helps improve girls’ and women’s access to education, which increases their job prospects, and promotion opportunities, in turn increasing their economic participation and contribution, which can only be of benefit to the economy. Countries that close gender gaps, such as those widened by missing school and work due to menstruation, see substantial growth returns. Furthermore, good and timely access to gynaecological care is important, both economically and as a sign of health system performance: In the UK alone, absence from work due to heavy periods, endometriosis, fibroids, and ovarian cysts costs the economy £11 billion yearly.
I’ve always thought myself quite aware of political issues and that turning out to vote and participating in democracy is important. I’ve made sure to vote in the elections I am eligible- be it for my MP or for the university sabbatical officers or interest group committees. I’ve been abstractly aware of how much empowering women helps bolster economies, and is beneficial to society. But it’s always been something that has felt more applicable to other countries and not so close to home. Ensuring people who menstruate are able to do so with dignity affects us all. Ensuring everyone who menstruates worldwide has access to affordable period products and good sanitation improves education and health and economies, amongst many others. So, when you next vote, and think of the economy, consider how much better off we’d all be if only everyone had access to good quality and timely reproductive care, including affordable period products.