Pupils in the UK are struggling to afford menstrual products. In a 2022 UK survey, charity WaterAid found that one in five girls were missing school as a result. Limited access to period products can also have a negative impact on learning and attainment.
In 2020, the government attempted to address this problem in England with a scheme to make period products available for free in schools and colleges. This is a valuable endeavour. However, just because pads and tampons are stocked in schools, this does not mean that they are easily accessible to the pupils who need them.
In research for my recently published book, I talked to 77 teenagers in England about their knowledge and views of menstruation and related social issues.
Many of the girls and non-binary pupils used this opportunity to share the frustrations, anxiety and embarrassment that they had experienced when searching for, requesting, or using the free period products in their current and previous schools.
Some pupils explained that they had to ask for period products and wished that they could “just grab them” when needed. They told me that products were kept at reception, locked away, or stored in areas – such as staff rooms – that pupils are not allowed to access.
This requires teenagers to discuss their period with teachers or other members of school staff and many pupils I spoke to explained that they felt too embarrassed to do this. This echoes the findings of other research on the continued role played by menstrual stigma in schools.
The teenagers in my research also said that the stigma around poverty deterred them from asking for menstrual products. “There’s so much shame thrown on to it. There are so many labels around the whole concept of not being able to afford these things,” one explained. Another said: “If you’re from a low-income household, you feel really awkward to go and pick them out, especially because the box is in the middle of the common room. So, to walk all the way there just to pick out some products… I wouldn’t say anyone is going to look at you weirdly, but obviously people have got that mindset of ‘oh they’re going to stare at me because I can’t afford it’.”
Other pupils reported that products were kept in libraries or only in one bathroom in the entire school which, in a large school, could be very far from their classrooms. One girl explained that this distance was especially problematic if her period had begun unexpectedly:
Reception was in a completely different building across the courtyard, so it’s not like I’m going to go to the loo, discover I have my period, go to the front desk, get some stuff and then go back. It’s too time-consuming. If I have classes, I can’t use it. I feel like the period product scheme is a really good idea, but it is dependent on the schools properly utilising it.
The pupils also said that they could not always access period products during examinations. They reported that this lack of access had affected their concentration during their GCSEs. They said that examinations often took place far from where they usually accessed menstrual products and, due to concerns about cheating, they could not bring their own into examination rooms.
One girl explained: “Exams are stressful enough and then you put bleeding on to that and getting your pads and painkillers sorted. It’s another thing us girls have to worry about”. Another said: “In exams you can’t really bring anything in. They’re just going to think you’re cheating but you’re not, you just need to change yourself.”
Some of the teenagers also mentioned that the products themselves were not serving their needs. Some schools only stocked internal products, such as tampons. For a range of reasons – due to culture, disability, and personal preference, among others – these are not suitable for everyone.
Other schools only provided thin pads. This is a problem for pupils with heavy bleeding. “The school pads are not thick enough,” one girl said. “I have to change my pad five to six times a day because I come on really heavy.”
Besides discussing the barriers they had faced to access these products, they also stated that they had never raised these issues with teachers or pastoral staff.
Menstrual justice charity Irise International is launching a toolkit for schools on how they can improve access to both period products and toilets themselves. This is based on evidence from my book as well as Irise’s own consultations with young people.
It is important that pupils are given the opportunity to share – in a comfortable and inclusive setting – their views with staff on which products should be available and where they are stored. This can include ordering reusable products such as cups and period underwear.
Schools should also ensure that period products are easily accessible during exams – such as on a table outside the exam room or in nearby toilets – and that pupils know in advance where they will be kept.
Maria Kathryn Tomlinson is a lecturer in Public Communication and Gender at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article
