Written by: Kristýna Vondrová
The price of one lunch menu in a Czech restaurant. In this way, one could trivialize the amount of costs for period products in the monthly budgets of Czech women. If every tenth person were not at risk of poverty, as CZSO data mercilessly show. Then you'd rather cook at home and cram toilet paper into your panties. Even if you are not a single parent. What does menstrual wellbeing look like in the Czech Republic and why is it related to education, stigma or Whoop·de·doo?
What is period poverty?
The term period poverty refers to the lack of access to sanitary products (menstrual pads, tampons, panties or cups) or comfortable and safe sanitary facilities that are necessary for period care. Menstruating women then face a dilemma: do I buy a pack of the chain's private label pads (at the cost of denying myself other essentials), or do I make do with a piece of cloth this time?
And this is about more than comfort. Period poverty can have serious consequences, including:
- increased risk of infection (from the use of inappropriate substitutes)
- skipping school
- feelings of shame and humiliation
Also, let's discard the narrative that only associates period poverty with third world countries, the homeless, or those with low income and education. Research by psychologist Manuela Haug shows that even Czech university students are not “in the dark”.
Invisible female students under the microscope
Manuela followed up on the project Invisible from the year 2021. He drew attention to the alarming fact that 12,000 university students in the Czech Republic are at risk of poverty. Therefore, she focused on female students from 18 to 26 years of age and processed the results from 1102 female respondents. Think about three numbers from the research:
- 30% of respondents state that they have less than CZK 2,000 left over per month after paying necessary expenses such as rent, food, transportation, etc.
- for 40% of girls, the purchase of accessories is a financial burden. The same percentage then consciously choose lower quality at the expense of a more favorable price.
- 26% wear period products longer than they should to save money (which brings us back to the vaginal infections mentioned above). A similar proportion of female students does not have access to toilets at school with enough privacy (e.g. a sink next to the bowl to wash the cup).
We cannot then imagine what the answers of women from other vulnerable groups would look like. Their experience with the insufficient availability of hygiene supplies or the poor adaptation of the public space to experiencing menstruation will be even sadder.
Stigma increases period poverty
Manuela's research also pointed out the stigmas that still accompany menstruation, even when we ask educated representatives of the generation Z. Three-quarters of the participating girls are uncomfortable carrying period products visibly in their hands and try to hide them. If young women miss school, work or leisure activities because of their period, 41% of them prefer to make an excuse to do something else. The association with something dirty and socially inappropriate persists in our minds.
Stigmas prevent open communication and availability of information, the first (zero!) step in the fight against period poverty. Conversely, it in turn reinforces stigma, as lack of access to hygiene needs leads to feelings of shame and isolation for the women concerned (who often do not participate in the work or education process during their days). Therefore, we believe that our brand should tirelessly enter the public conversation about periods and keep it moving forward.
How to fight period poverty?
How can we improve menstrual wellbeing for Czech women?
We advocate for:
- Free provision of menstrual supplies in schools, workplaces and public places. Because menstruation is not our choice.
- Reduction or elimination of VAT on menstrual supplies, which lowers their price and increases availability. In the Czech Republic, politicians unfortunately did not approve the reduction of VAT from the current 21% to a reduced tax rate of 12%. At the same time, even our Polish neighbors tax menstrual supplies at 5%, in Western countries it is not even a rarity to be completely exempt from VAT.
- Supporting non-profits, educational programs and public campaigns on the topic. And we want to help this ourselves in July, when we will launch a crowdfunding campaign against period poverty in Donio. As part of this, we will present a new variant of our menstrual cup.
We hope you like it!