Being a woman is expensive!
The question of the costs for women's hygiene products has now also reached public debate for a few years.
"It was about time! This phenomenon affects a lot of people. On average, a woman has her period for 38 years of her life, which amounts to a total of 450 periods. With an average of five days of menstruation per menstrual cycle, women have to protect themselves with hygiene products for 2280 days of their lives!"
The financial burden for this is significant. In France, women spend an estimated 5 to 8 euros per month on the purchase of menstrual hygiene products. Considering the lowest expenses, this amounts to 65 euros per year or 2470 euros for a whole lifetime. In the UK, a 2017 BBC study estimated these total costs at £1550 (1730 euros).
Not to mention additional expenses related to menstruation: the purchase of painkillers, visits to the gynecologist, buying new underwear and bed linen, etc. Even with a minimization of these costs, it still amounts to 100 to 150 euros per year. In 2015, the Huffington Post published an estimate of the total costs of menstruation: In the UK, a woman spends an average of £18,000 (23,500 euros) in her lifetime on all these purchases, which is 675 euros per year!
Do you want to save money? The reusable period panties from Sisters Republic help you with that.
A price that deepens existing inequalities
In France, 15.5 million women are affected by the issue of menstrual costs. A quarter of the French population is forced to spend more money on a biological phenomenon that they did not choose. An economic inequality factor, especially between men and women.
This inequality increases depending on the affected population group. Women living in precarious conditions are more likely to suffer from the phenomenon now referred to as "period poverty." In France, 1.7 million women are said to be affected. Homeless women, girls from socially disadvantaged families, workers with insecure incomes, students living below the poverty line... they all lack the purchasing power to obtain panty liners and/or tampons and sanitary pads.
This precariousness has partly dramatic consequences for women's intimate hygiene and health: improvised emergency solutions (absorbent fabrics, newspaper, sponges, mud) or wearing a tampon for too long can lead to vaginal irritations, allergies, or more serious infections. These include the rare but potentially fatal Toxic Shock Syndrome or the danger posed by menstrual cups, which some women in prison make themselves from plastic bottles, as revealed by "Obs" in March 2019. Another dramatic consequence: school dropout. In fact, many schoolgirls who suffer from period poverty prefer to stay home rather than go to school when they have their period. According to Ifop, 21% of girls and women report that they do not go to school or leave the house because they do not have adequate menstrual protection.
This problem of not being able to afford hygiene products affects many women around the world. A study from 2017 in the UK shows that one in ten women has been so short on cash that she could not buy hygiene items. And this remains a taboo. In schools in Africa, it is estimated that one in ten girls suffers from this problem, according to UNICEF.
The debate about free women's hygiene products
"Menstruation is a matter of state policy," said Marlène Schiappa, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, in 2019 at a meeting dedicated to the fight against period poverty.
At the beginning of the fight, citizen actions were organized (fundraising, demonstrations, petitions), led by associations such as "Règles élémentaires", "Les Restos du cour" or collectives like "Ça va saigner" and "Les Glorieuses". In Paris, the town halls set up "donation boxes" where people could drop off women's hygiene products. Finally, some brands, together with the associations, launched campaigns to combat period poverty by distributing free disposable pads and other hygiene products for women.
In 2016, a first step was taken with the reduction of the VAT on women's hygiene products from 20% to 5.5%, a measure aimed at encouraging brands to lower prices. In 2019, a bill was launched by Marlène Schiappa to test a system for the free and permanent distribution of menstrual products in public places (schools, hospitals, prisons). Some town halls were pioneers in this regard: In the 10th arrondissement of Paris, five secondary schools were equipped with dispensers for free women's hygiene products made from certified organic cotton.
"Will France follow the Scottish model? Since 2018, feminine hygiene products have been free in schools and universities in Scotland. Here, young girls can obtain a sanitary pad, panty liner, or another hygiene product without having to pay for it. A world first in the fight against period poverty."
And finally, the debate about period poverty also has the merit of raising the question of what kind of menstrual protection should be preferred in the near future. Shouldn't these expensive and environmentally harmful traditional hygiene products already belong to the past?
Period underwear: a long-term solution?
After the menstrual cup and the washable pad, it is now time for a new menstrual revolution: the period underwear. It is both absorbent and waterproof, eco-friendly, leak-proof, washable, and therefore reusable for several years (2 to 7 years depending on the brand). Unlike washable pads, it guarantees an average protection of up to 12 hours thanks to its high absorbency and can be used (with heavier menstrual flow) in addition to a tampon or a menstrual cup. Moreover, it produces no waste and is therefore much more environmentally friendly than conventional, often questionable hygiene products (traces of pesticides, chemicals, plastic, as well as the environmental costs of these disposable products).
Certainly, period panties represent a cost factor, considering that their average price is around 30 euros. However, they offer undeniable potential for the future, as they can be a short-term investment for long-term savings. Perhaps a solution that is both economically and ecologically sustainable.
With the Sisters Republic period panties, you save money every month and help the environment.
