The BC government says it is providing $ 750,000 to expand access to free menstrual products for people who need them and to help United Way set up a working group to consider how to end the “poverty of the period.”
Nicholas Simons, the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, said half of menstruating people in BC have struggled to buy the products they need at some point in their lives.
He told a news conference on Friday that no one should stay home from work or school because menstrual products cannot be allowed or a choice between paying for hygiene and staples such as food.
Asked about previous calls for the province to make menstrual products available in places like schools, workplaces, pharmacies and government offices, Simons said there is a big difference between having the products available at home and having them available. access in public spaces.
He said previous research has shown that limited access to menstrual products means people are more likely to stay home, and the task force will study where the most effective places to put the products available might be.
Neal Adolph, of United Way, said that half of the funding, which is intended to last two years, will go to the task force and the other half will support the organization’s work to increase access to menstrual products throughout BC. .
The Working Group on Poverty of the Period is due to present a final report in March 2024.
The working group will be chaired by Nikki Hill, who has previously worked on a province-funded research project with United Way that looks at the impacts that lack of access to menstrual products can have on a person’s life.
“Before we started some of this work, we had no idea what a common problem it was for people in our communities,” Hill told a news conference.
He said the working group will seek to create equity for these people.
Students have had access to free menstrual products in the restrooms of BC public schools since 2019, the Ministry of Social Development said.