Long Blog 2 — Fighting Period Poverty in Toronto
When I began my last year of high school in the fall of 2019, a TDSB-wide announcement was made stating that menstrual products will be provided to students for free at all schools. This was great news, and I was expecting to see menstrual products being placed in the washrooms. But they were never there, and I was very disappointed when I heard that they were only accessible upon request at the Guidance councilor’s office or the Gym office. Even though the products were ‘available for free’, they were not accessible. I remember thinking, ‘Can students go to the office and ask for the products in front of other people without feeling uncomfortable?’ It is important to note that the stigma surrounding menstruation makes access even more difficult. The goal was to help students deal with the lack of access due to economic factors, yet the motion didn’t seem effective due to its poor layout.
A recent CBC article highlights an attempt by Toronto’s youth advisory body calling for menstrual products to be provided for free at all Ontario school washrooms (Jonas, 2021). Their goal is to end ‘period poverty’, which is a public health crisis that needs to be addressed more frequently. The term represents not being able to afford menstrual products and having poor knowledge of menstruation often due to financial constraints. Upon reading the article, I started to wonder, how did period poverty arise and why does it remain unresolved to this day despite attempts for improvements? It’s simple — inequality and stigma.
Back in 2004, a bill was first introduced by a member of Parliament to remove the government sales tax on menstrual products. But it failed, and it took another nine years for the introduction of Bill C-282, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (feminine hygiene products) — which was again ignored. Two years later in 2015, a campaign called #NoTaxOnTampons gathered nearly 75,000 online signatures and 10,082 signatures on paper. The campaign, combined with numerous protests and editorials, evoked a national conversation on tax fairness. It turned out to successful, and on Canada Day, the federal tax on menstrual hygiene products called ‘tampon tax’ was lifted (Sunderaeson, 2020). It was a historical moment, as the discriminatory tax was removed after the work of many social activists that fought for justice and gender equality. The fact that it took almost 25 years symbolizes the severity of systemic inequality that Canadian women face, especially women in poverty.
Even though the tax was lifted, the costs still remain high. According to a report conducted by Plan International Canada in 2019, a third of Canadian women under the age of 25 have struggled to afford menstrual products (Torres-Ramos, 2019). Young women in Toronto, especially students, are withdrawing from social activities at schools due to the lack of access. Combined with the stigma surrounding menstruation, the lack of access often leads to poor mental health, such as the development of anxiety and depression (Parraga, 2020). It is important for society as a whole to become aware that menstruation is a biologically healthy process that should not be associated with uncleanliness or shame. However, the stigma makes it difficult for public conversations about menstruation to become normalized. Menstrual products are not optional luxury items — they are essential to women’s health and their participation in society.
Tackling period poverty in Toronto is not just about providing affordable access to menstrual products. The conversation on gender equality and educating students about the literacy of menstrual health in schools is crucial for reducing stigma. This can be done by actions such as writing to government representatives, advocating for free products on social media, as well as participating in donation drives. Since 2011, Shoppers Drug Mart has partnered with Food Banks Canada to raise awareness and create action against period poverty. Their campaign called ‘Tampon Tuesday’ is a donation drive that provides feminine hygiene products to women in need (Miller, 2020). To learn more about Tampon Tuesday Toronto, you can visit their Instagram, or their official website. Along with government measures to make menstrual products more accessible, the city’s fight against period poverty and gender inequality is currently in progress.
Works Cited
Jonas, Sabrina. Toronto’s youth advisory body calls for free menstrual products in all Ontario public schools. CBC, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/city-youth-advisory-body-calls-for-free-menstrual-products-1.5940449. Accessed 8 March 2021.
Miller, Stephen. Tampon Tuesday aims to increase access to feminine hygiene products provincewide. CBC, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/tampon-tuesday-donations-1.5475964. Accessed 9 March 2021.
Parraga, Jennifer. Period Poverty. Western University Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/rapport/2020/topical/period_poverty.html#:~:text=Nearly%20a%20quarter%20of%20Canadian,lifetime%20on%20menstrual%20hygiene%20products. Accessed 10 March 2021.
Sunderaeson, Arushana. Provincial progress in the campaign to end period poverty in Canada. CCPA, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/provincial-progress-campaign-end-period-poverty-canada. Accessed 8 March 2021.
Torres-Ramos, Angie. New Plan International Canada Research Shows Large Majority of Canadians Support Free Menstrual Hygiene Products in Schools and in the Workplace. Plan International, https://plancanada.ca/media-centre/plan-intl-canada-releases-new-menstrual-hygiene-research. Accessed 10 March 2021.
