More than 27 million free pads and tampons will be given to Victorian state school girls every year under a new state government initiative.
The scale of Labor’s youth-friendly election pledge has been revealed in tender documents, with menstruating students expected to use four sanitary products every day, have five-day periods and experience 10 cycles per year.
The projections are also based on the assumption that 95 per cent of state school girls in years 6 to 12 will use the free products.
Annual demand is expected to increase to 29 million sanitary products by 2022-2023, with the successful supplier expected to distribute around 113 million tampons and pads over the course of the four-year contract.
“The demand for this service is untested in the school context,” the document states.
“There has been no systematic distribution of sanitary items in schools in Australia, and international evidence relates to small pilot studies that cannot be extrapolated project wide in Victoria.”
The Australian-first initiative aims to reduce the stigma around menstruation and ensure girls don’t miss school because they can’t afford sanitary products. It also spares them the discomfort and embarrassment of being unprepared for the arrival of a period while at school.
It will be rolled out between August and December and it’s anticipated that vending-style machines will dispense the free products in school bathrooms.
The successful supplier will provide the Education Department with fortnightly reports on which products are dispensed so that they can provide each school with the most appropriate items.
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists spokeswoman Bernadette White said the department’s modelling seemed reasonable and appeared to take into account school holidays.
“Four sanitary products per day is a slight overestimate, but probably not far off,” she said.
While the initiative has been welcomed by women’s health advocates, it has coincided with calls for more education around menstruation in schools.
Tasha Lawton, a filmmaker and founder of education resource Period Talk, will meet with Education Department officials next month to discuss the need for more menstruation education in schools.
She has developed the country’s first menstruation education resource, which was launched last September and is running in 65 schools. The program is for boys and girls and covers the menstrual cycle, pain management, changes to the body and mind and cultural differences.
Students also learn about how to use sanitary products, which they dip into red dye.
“I think free tampons and pads in schools are a great start,” she said. “But without focussing on the stigma and taboos that surrounds the whole topic of menstruation, you are only addressing half the problem.”
Acting education minister Gayle Tierney said access to sanitary pads and tampons shouldn’t be a barrier to getting a good education.
“Providing free sanitary items in schools will also save students money and help to reduce stigma and anxiety associated with periods,” she said.
The government has not disclosed how much the initiative will cost, but it’s understand to be around $5 million per year.
Victorian Women’s Trust director Mary Crooks welcomed the government plan and said public toilets, restaurants and cafes should also provide free menstrual products.
“The only reason they are not is because of the stigma attached to it,” she said.
“It is an essential part of a woman’s body. People don’t charge for toilet paper.”
The initiative follows similar moves in the US and Scotland, where research shows that girls who can’t afford sanitary products often miss school.
The problem is much more pronounced in developing nations.
Source: https://www.smh.com.au