Girls from low-income families across England
are struggling to afford sanitary protection, with many teachers buying tampons
for their students or seeking help with supplies from charities and voluntary
groups, the Guardian has been told.
campaigners and teachers say that the problem
is happening in cities and rural areas across the country, describing girls
missing school, using donations, or wearing makeshift protection during their
period.
The issue
came to light after it was reported that a charity in Leeds, was contacted by a local school who were
worried about truancy among teenage girls when they had their period.
The
charity, which provides products to women in Kenya, agreed to do the same for
local girls.
Since then
more teachers have come forward to discuss the issue openly, with many
contacting charities for help or telling how their schools already support
girls in the same situation. Hayley Smith, founder of ,
a campaign working to provide
free sanitary products to the homeless, said that she had a request from a
London primary teacher, who worked in multiple schools in the capital, on
Monday asking to her to provide sanitary products to young girls who could not
afford them.
Smith said: “Teenagers and young
girls are being forced to wrap or stuff toilet paper down their knickers, to
prevent them from bleeding all over themselves while at schools.
The cost of
sanitary products are just too much for some girls and their families, and it’s
leading to missing school and it’s putting their health at risk.”
“It’s absolutely despicable in the 21st
century that girls are being forced to comprise their education simply because
an absolute necessity is unavailable and not affordable.”
Smith is now looking at distribution channels
to ensure students get supplies. “I work with Ealing Soup Kitchen and St
Mungo’s and I am asking them if they have any links in primary schools we can
distribute to,”
she said. The campaigner added that she is also looking at
creating drop off or donation points where people can give products to local
schools.
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Donations have already been given in Beverley,
a market town in east Yorkshire. Councillor Chris Linthwaite, from Molescroft
parish council, said the Friends of Longcroft School,
a voluntary group, had to
step in and provide sanitary donations after an investigation highlighted it as
a problem. “Basic school equipment, items of uniform including 80 pairs of
shoes were needed too.” The school confirmed the donations.
Rosy Candlin , a campaign to create packs of menstrual
products for people experiencing homelessness or poverty in Manchester, said
she had been into a school in Rochdale to talk about this issue, with students
raising funds for students who could not afford products.
She agreed there was still a lot of stigma:
“For a family to say ‘we cannot afford food’ that’s so much easier to ask for.
But because of the shame put on mensuration it’s much harder.
Even in food
banks we have to tell me to make it explicit that they carry our packs as
people less likely to ask for them.”
The Guardian also heard from dozens of
teachers who said that they regularly provide pads and tampons for their
students. One teacher in Manchester, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “This
year I have a student who has benefited from free sanitary products.
The
student mentors and I put together two bags of essential toiletries including
pads. She does pick up extra supplies every so often. So has another girl in
the class. They would benefit from being able to tap into a guaranteed national
provision – it’s less embarrassing when you feel you are not the only one.”
Another teacher from Newcastle said: “There is
a core group of girls who regularly need to use staff-bought sanitary products.
I buy the same brands I use myself, I just make sure I buy extra when they’re
on offer.”
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One teaching assistant from Surrey said last
week someone in her department helped out a pupil who had only been given one
sanitary towel for the day by her mother.
“The girl came to a member of our
department as she did not know what to do. It is not unusual for this to happen
and we have a supply of sanitary towels and spare knickers for that purpose.”
Bothana Tashani of Freedom4Girls said that
since the story about what was happening in Leeds went public they have heard
from teachers,
students and organisations all around the UK.
“We were not surprised when we were first contacted by a school in Leeds about
it.
It’s upsetting because no one has talked about it before as there is a lot
of shame and embarrassment around not being able to afford sanitary products.”
Tina Leslie of Freedom4Girls has now launched to
raise money for research into the scale of the issue in the UK, calling for a
comprehensive, nationwide study on the issue.
The news comes as a bill is about to go
through the Scottish parliament to make it a requirement for schools to provide
pads and tampons.
A
petition has since been started in the UK .
Conservative MP Jason McCartney has
since said he will raise the issue in parliament.
He has said that he wants to
get a group of MPs together to start a campaign for free sanitary products for
young girls in need.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society
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