40% of pupils struggle to access free period products in school
Written by Yas Duggal
We’ve all been there – you’re caught short on your period at school and you’ve leaked into your underwear. It’s uncomfortable and feels embarrassing. But what if you couldn’t afford menstrual products? What if your school didn’t offer free towels and tampons? And what if you weren’t allowed to leave the classroom to go to the toilet?
For many pupils across the UK, this is sadly the case. New research reveals 40% of pupils struggle to access free period products in schools. If this wasn’t bad enough, an estimated three million – that’s one third – of young people across the UK are missing school due to a lack of access to period products and the shame surrounding periods in schools.
New data commissioned by a group of UK charities fighting period poverty (Irise, In Kind Direct, Cysters, Freedom4Girls and Bloody Good Period) shows nearly half (44%) of girls have difficulty accessing free period products at school, a further 44% of girls feel too embarrassed to ask for period products at school, and a quarter (24%) have been too embarrassed to notify a teacher when they have started their period.
The study also found 61% of girls have had issues accessing toilets in lessons when on their period, and a further 25% had to justify exactly why they needed to go to the toilet, leaving one in four girls (24%) having to hide their period products when accessing a toilet at school.
One teenager realised her period had started in the first minutes of a crucial GCSE exam last year.
"I was sat there for two hours, leaking, in my own blood, without anything I could do. I was so uncomfortable I just couldn't concentrate," she told the BBC.
"I broke down to my head of year - and he didn't give me any support," she says. "He told me to be more discreet about it."
More discreet?! This is something that affects 50% of the population for three to four decades of their life. It’s high time we got rid of the stigma surrounding periods in schools and colleges, setting young people up for workplaces where there’s no shame in asking for period products or excusing yourself from a meeting because you need to change your tampon.
So, what needs to change? The Scottish government made history in 2018 by becoming the first in the world to make period products free to school, college and university students.
The Period Products Scheme in England has been in place since 2020. The government says its funding will continue until at least July 2024 (hardly reassuring).
In Wales, the government aims to achieve "period dignity" by 2027, improving access to products and reducing stigma. Earlier this year, it committed to ensuring free period products were available at every school and college in the country.
But in Northern Ireland, Department for Education funding to provide period products in schools has been cut by 40%.
Clearly, there’s more work to be done. With the cost of living crisis forcing more people into period poverty, government initiatives need to strive for better. Not only in the way of funding free period products in schools and colleges, but by working with education providers on campaigns to remove embarrassment surrounding menstrual issues, and normalise the conversation in education settings.
Every Month aims to challenge this by providing period packs to people who need them, no cost, no stigma. We aim to support our community by making steps to fighting the inequality caused by period poverty. We understand that not everyone who bleeds is female, so our services are no-questions-asked. We really are here for any and every body. Period.
References:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-65695115
https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/parenting/more-than-three-million-days-of-school-missed-because-of-period-shame/
40% of pupils struggling to access free period products in schools, research reveals | Edexec