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1/3 of Canadian women under the age of 25 have struggled to afford menstrual products. This directly impacts their health and ability to participate in school, work, sport and the arts.
On #MenstrualHygieneDay and every day we need to fight to end #periodpoverty.
On #MenstrualHygieneDay and every day we need to fight to end #periodpoverty.
From 1991 until 2015, the Canadian government considered all menstrual hygiene products a non-essential or luxury item. #MenstrualHygieneDay
In 2014, approximately 17,876,392 Canadian women between the ages of 12 - 49 spent about $519,976,963 on menstrual hygiene products. This means the Government of Canada collected approximately $36,398,387 from women, girls, trans and gender non-binary people. #PeriodPoverty
The Canadian Menstruators with lots of support, fought through petition, lobbying and protest for #NoTaxOnTampoons. They won in 2015 that the federal tax against menstrual products would be lifted. You can read about their amazing work here: http://www.canadianmenstruators.ca
Last year Toronto City Council voted to provide menstruation products for women in shelters drop in and respite centres as well as neighbourhood centres thanks to the leadership of people including @ThePeriodPurse & @kristynwongtam. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-city-of-toronto-to-provide-menstrual-products-for-homeless-women/
Recogizing the impact of #PeriodPoverty on education, in 2019 British Columbia became the first province to require all public schools to provide free menstrual products for students in school bathrooms, the provincial government has announced. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/free-menstrual-products-bc-1.5086346
There is so much work to be done to address to end #PeriodPoverty in Canada including ensuring that everyone has access to free products. Highly recommend following groups like @ThePeriodPurse to learn more.
