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Putting a period on period poverty

23 Sep 2022

  • MPs note need to address stigma and knowledge deficit on menstruation and ensure accessibility, affordability, and quality of pads
BY Sumudu Chamara   Even though period poverty appears to be developing into a pressing issue, especially with increased taxes pushing up prices of sanitary pads, cost-related issues are just one aspect of the overall issue. Sri Lanka is yet to address a number of other issues such as the cultural and social stigma associated with menstruation and sanitary napkins, and also the lack of knowledge and constructive discourse about the same.   These concerns were shared by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna Kavirathna and Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella during an online discussion titled “Policymaking to Menstruate with Confidence” held by the Parliament’s Communication Department on Wednesday (21).    Accessibility, affordability, and quality    During the discussion, Rambukwella pointed out that period poverty is an issue that revolves around a number of matters such as cultural opinions, sex education, and the prevailing social constructs, not just health, and that all these aspects need to be addressed gradually in order to end period poverty. He also acknowledged that the economic downturn in the country has only exacerbated period poverty. “The price is important. However, the availability and the quality of sanitary pads are also very important. There is a difference between saying that it is expensive and that there is no way to purchase it.” Adding that there should be a reasonable pricing scheme for sanitary pads, Rambukwella said that when deciding prices, there are several matters to consider.  “The reason behind why we have imposed a fairly heavy tax on it is to make sure that local industries benefit from it. When it comes to local industries, competition in the industry might not be the same. When you launch a product, it may not be up to the international standards that are required. Hence, it is important to provide a springboard to local manufacturers. The time has come to stop considering sanitary pads a luxury item and have alternatives such as menstrual cups and reusable pads.” He noted that simply establishing access to sanitary pads is not sufficient and that it is necessary to ensure they can be obtained in a way that does not affect families’ economies and day-to-day lives. He claimed that the Government aims to enable more and more people to purchase sanitary pads. Meanwhile, speaking of increased taxes and prices, Kavirathna said that looking into exempting local products such as sanitary pads from taxes is a welcome move, and that various countries such as India and Scotland have already done it. She stressed that such a move would have a huge positive impact, especially due to the impact of period poverty on schoolgirls. Quoting studies, Kavirathna claimed that around 50% of girls are reluctant to attend school when menstruating, and that over 50% of the overall female population suffers from period poverty. “This is a huge issue for a country when access to sanitary pads should be a basic necessity, not a luxury,” she added. Women and Child Affairs State Minister Geetha Kumarasinghe informed Parliament on Wednesday that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued orders to reduce taxes imposed on sanitary products. These tax reductions would apply to the Ports and Airport Development Levy, the Cess Levy, and Customs Duty. Speaking of how rising inflation could also be a factor that exacerbates period poverty, Kavirathna said: “The price of a packet of sanitary pads is over Rs. 500. A family that has one girl child and an adult female needs at least two packets a month, which costs around Rs. 1,000. For Rs. 1,000, a family can purchase four kilograms of rice. The country is going through an economic crisis, and people are facing issues buying just the essentials. In this context, each family has to decide what its priorities should be. They have to decide whether to purchase sanitary pads or rice.” Explaining further, she said that when a family has to prioritise food over sanitary pads, the women resort to using improvised, traditional methods, such as pieces of cloth, as sanitary pads, which she said could be detrimental due to several reasons including it being unsanitary. The quality of sanitary pads is one of the topics the duo paid attention to. They both agreed that while the availability and affordability of sanitary pads are important, it is equally crucial to ensure that the sanitary pads that people can afford are of good quality. The failure to ensure quality, she opined, would cause various health issues in women and girls in the long run, for which the Health Ministry would have to spend money. “Therefore, there is a need to regulate and ensure the quality of sanitary pads,” she emphasised, adding that this is particularly important because some women require sanitary pads with different qualities; an example being some women requiring sanitary pads that can help with a lot of bleeding. In response, Rambukwella said that even though the quality of sanitary pads is being regulated, he agreed that in certain cases, stricter regulations may be necessary. Even though there are laws in place in this regard, he said that there may be inadequacies in such laws.     Changing mindsets   The duo identified the need to change social, cultural, and traditional attitudes as another major step in eradicating period poverty, and pointed out that stigma, discrimination, and various misconceptions surrounding period poverty and menstruation have hindered people from discussing period poverty openly, despite it being a pressing issue.  “A cultural aspect has also been assigned to this natural phenomenon, and it has altered the way this issue is looked at. The need for sanitary products should be considered a basic need. We have a responsibility to create a background that enables us to address this issue, especially in the presence of various limitations and ideologies in that regard. This is a subject we started talking about somewhat recently, as this remained a topic shunned by people. This is part of day-to-day life, not a luxury or a secret. We should raise awareness about this through the Education and Health Ministries,” stated Rambukwella. According to Rambukwella, in addition to strengthening education and raising awareness about period poverty and related topics, mainstreaming sex education in schools is also crucial to deal with this situation. “Without limiting matters such as health and sex education to higher levels of education, the Education Ministry should ensure that these are taught to children generally,” he added. With regard to education, Kavirathna said: “Providing proper knowledge about these matters is not taking place formally or informally, and the youth are not receiving the proper knowledge that they should receive, especially about sexual relationships. This has caused issues for youth and adults.  “Additionally, in the long run, the country has to spend unnecessarily to address issues that occur due to the lack of knowledge. Also, when it comes to disseminating knowledge, there are language-related issues, even if access to the Internet has been ensured.”  In this regard, Rambukwella said: “Knowledge is important, be it sex education or another matter. Especially when it comes to safe sexual activities, knowledge is a weapon that can be used by a person to defend themselves. I think that we should pay as much attention as possible to raising awareness regarding matters such as cultural constraints. How we interpret them is what affects us. Talking about this issue alone could lead to attracting massive criticism and discussions that are not constructive or meaningful.” Regarding the same, Kavirathna said that in a context where the country does not talk about period poverty adequately due to limitations imposed by culture, the health authorities have had to spend a substantial amount of funds to address the issues that arise due to not discussing period poverty and related topics openly.  She added: “During the two and a half years I was in Parliament, we have talked about period poverty. When the Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa spoke about it, he was called the ‘Pad Man’ and was made fun of. I see that sometimes, our problems are politicised, and politics subdue real issues. I think that that is why addressing this issue has been delayed.” During the discussion, it was also noted that although there are better and more modern alternatives for sanitary pads, they are expensive and are not used due to various ideological concerns. This too needs to be changed, according to the duo. Kavirathna spoke about these ideological barriers, saying: “There is discrimination based on ideological and cultural constraints, and therefore, people are sometimes reluctant to discuss these types of issues, although they are very ordinary issues. This has also prevented us from addressing other issues relating to women, including serious ones such as abortion.”  Moreover, Kavirathna opined that many issues including period poverty do not receive adequate media attention and that such too should be addressed. The duo concurred that the necessary initiative to eradicate period poverty should come from various stakeholders including the Government, especially the Health and Education Ministries, and sanitary pad manufacturers.


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