A women advocacy group is calling on the Government to implement measures that will result in a decrease in the prices of feminine products to make them more affordable for women and girls.
Soroptimist International (SI) Esperance’s vice president Rabbia Khan issued the call on Monday at the launch of their Period Positivity Project at ASJA Girls’ College in Barrackpore.
Lamenting that sanitary products were still being treated as luxury items rather than a necessity, she said, “I would also take the opportunity today to advocate and appeal especially to the women in Parliament for the removal of customs duty on or subsidisation of feminine products and the free distribution of same to the vulnerable in our schools.”
The club intends to distribute sanitary projects to disadvantaged girls at rural schools for three years.
Also speaking at the event, SI Esperance’s president Denyse Ewe, who noted that the lack of menstrual access and literacy is a human rights issue.
However, she said menstruation is still considered an embarrassing topic in T&T which is hardly mentioned by mainstream media, and when they do, they are cloaked in euphemisms. She also claimed that sex education relating to periods commonly relays incorrect information. “More often what we are taught about periods are harmful myths which make girls and women ashamed of their bodies some girls are even taught that menstruation is dirty and something to be kept a secret. This stigma leads to a lot of misinformation about menstruation, a lack of open discussion on period-related health issues and not enough access to menstrual products,” Ewe said.
Pointing out that society must work towards destigmatising menstruation, Ewe said the club aims to do that through open discussion and education; and raise awareness about menstruation -health issues and hygiene.
Khan added, “Students, low income and homeless women struggle with period poverty as they experience the indignity and shame of not being able to care for themselves during their period.
The inability of families to purchase these kinds of products which are still expensive though VAT zero-rated, cause social and economic implications which result in some students missing school.”
Khan said the pandemic has also compounded this situation since families are forced to choose between food and sanitary supplies.
Khan explained that their project is aimed at educating girls about menstruation hygiene, proper uses of menstruation products and disposal.
The club also wants to enable students to fulfil their potential by helping them attend school regularly to improve their academic and non-academic performance.
She aid they also intend to empower students by teaching them that there is no shame in menstruation, to be more confident in their femininity and to increase public awareness of periods poverty and positivity.
The organisation will also be using social media platforms to get their message across to the population. They thanked AMCO for sponsoring the first batch of feminine products.