Gags for Rags - End period poverty

Period poverty is a little known issue. Please consider this: 

For the thousands of Canadians living below the poverty line and for those who are fleeing abuse and living in shelters and on the street, fully participating in society is a problem when they have their period. Women miss work and girls miss school because they cannot afford essential products like pads and tampons. People who can't afford to purchase these essentials should not have their lives interrupted by an unprotected period and should be able to focus on the other challenges they face in their lives, with dignity and in good health.

 

Background

In September 2016, I was driving to a beautiful weekend destination here in Ontario, listening to the CBC. I almost turned the radio off because of the show theme, periods. Menstruation. But because CBC, and in this case, the Out in the Open team do what they do so well, I listened on. The segment that grabbed my full attention was about how homeless women deal with their periods, and specifically the account of a woman fleeing abuse and living in the shelter with her three daughters, all of menstruating age. The mom, trying to get her life on track and get on a bus to attend her Excel class so she could move towards meaningful employment, had to cancel because she had her period, and did not have proper protection.

As a woman, as a professional, as someone who  menstruates, and as a person, I found this appalling.

A few months later, around the Christmas season, I contacted a nearby shelter and asked what they needed. “We are desperate for pads,” they told me. Shocked again, and this time, harder to ignore.

If you visit any shelter or community access centre and ask what they need, menstrual products will be the #1 or #2 item on their list depending on their demographic (incontinence products also top the list). These centres pay for these supplies out of their operating budgets and depend on donations. And they simply cannot meet the demand.
 
It’s not always pleasant dealing with your period, but what if you don’t have protection? What if you don’t have the money to go across the street to the nearest drugstore to buy product? What if you don’t have a place to go in order to properly, hygienically and with dignity, deal with something that happens every single month for most of your life?

People who menstruate who do not have access to product resort to less than ideal DIY versions made out of paper towels, toilet paper and socks, and use actual products beyond their intended use, risking health consequences. This is well documented in this excellent Toronto Star piece.

This is a thing…in Canada?

Many people have heard that this is an issue in far away places - where girls don’t go to school because they have their periods and women stay home from work for the same reason - but they cannot believe that this is a problem in major cities like Toronto, in remote areas like Northern Saskatchewan and everywhere else in Canada where there are marginalized people who menstruate.

As you may know, taxes for feminine hygiene products were eliminated in Canada in 2015. But, that isn't enough.  For those people who menstruate and live in shelters, on the street and/or who are on social assistance, contributing equally to society, feeling and being healthy, is a problem. The 2016 Canadian Census of the State of Homelessness in Canada estimates that there are 235,000 homeless people, 27% of whom are women. The issue of homelessness was heightened further this year in Toronto, as an example, due to the extreme influx of people using shelters/centres. There was an increase of 30%, year over year, from 2017-2018. 

This does not account for those individuals who live in households who have to choose between food, keeping the lights on and menstrual products.


Government needs to step in and step up

Bringing a few boxes of product to a nearby shelter a few times was like eating junk food. It felt good for about 10 minutes and then, very empty.  
Our efforts will continue with the Province, we have recently reached out to the Mayor Tory and we will also lobby the Federal government on this issue. It’s going to take time, but we truly believe this is a problem that can and should be fixed by the government. In the meantime,  more awareness about the issue is necessary and we need to get product to the people that need it.  


Why we are raising funds 

While the provincial government gets settled, while Mayor Tory decides if he wants Toronto to be a world-class city like New York City that passed legislation in 2016 which now sees menstrual products readily available to students, shelter residents and inmates, we are raising funds for the purchase and distribution of menstrual products (pads and tampons) to shelters and community access centres. Rather than distribute a little amount of product to the 300+ shelters in Ontario, a significant supply of menstrual products will be dropped at a small number of locations. 

We will evaluate the impact of these donations through continued dialogue with the agencies that have received product to learn how it affected the clients, the agency itself and how it freed up budget to do other things. We will provide this information to the government to continue the case for support to end period poverty.
 
What you can do to help

Donate to this gofundmepage to help fund the bulk purchase and distribution of menstrual products for marginalized women and girls in the GTA.

Volunteer with Period Purse Project, a local and growing organization that fills purses with menstrual products.

Write your MP, MPP and your City Councillor and tell them that this issue needs to be addressed.

Thank you very much for your time and attention. I truly hope you can help. 

Warm regards,
C-A Granatstein