A NEW scheme will provide free period products in public toilets and other buildings across Oxford.
Oxford City Council voted unanimously to launch the scheme and it will work with charities and organisations to provide free products in toilets and buildings in the city, including the Town Hall and community centres.
Green Party councillor Rosie Rawle, who submitted the motion, said: “I am absolutely delighted that councillors put aside party differences to support this vital scheme, which will make a real and tangible difference to people’s lives in Oxford.
“Period poverty is a major issue facing millions of people across the country, and thousands in our city. Lack of access to period products can have a huge impact on the lives of women, girls, non-binary people and trans men who menstruate. It can lead to people wearing period products for too long and using unsuitable or unsafe alternatives.
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“There are already brilliant initiatives in Oxford which do incredible work to overcome period poverty. But we need to go further. That’s why it’s so important that Oxford City Council is stepping up and tackling this.”
Councillors say this will support the work already being carried about by the Young Women’s Music Project, which currently delivers a volunteer-run distribution network in Oxford - called Wings - to support people who menstruate or have young children and cannot access sanitary products or nappies.
We found that over 1 in 4 girls aged 14-21 are struggling to afford period products 🩸
— Plan International UK (@PlanUK) July 13, 2022
The Government needs to make tackling period poverty a priority to ensure that free period products are available to all those who need them. https://t.co/EaNTb6n6oT
Lucy Pegg, who is the deputy leader of the Green Party Group on the council, said: “Access to dignity and period products should be a basic right for all who need it. And if we’re serious about tackling inequality in our city, we need to get serious about tackling period poverty.
“Providing free period products in public buildings will be an important step in tackling this issue, and liberating women and others from this major failing of society.
“It is brilliant that the City Council will now be doing what it can to play a role in tackling period poverty.”
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Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani, of Young Women's Music Project, said: “We believe that providing free period products to the people of Oxford will support the mental and physical health of those who are most impacted by increase in costs of living. Everyone deserves the right to sanitary resources.
“Many of our participants didn’t have access to essential items during the lockdowns. In response to this issue we began to deliver items from food banks and went onto apply for funds for us to setup our own delivery service.”
According to a study by children’s charity Plan International, the average menstruating person spends £4,800 on period products in their lifetime and more than a third of girls aged 14-21 in the UK have struggled to afford or access period products during the pandemic.
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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers.
Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk
Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi
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