Good News for Ontario Menstruators!

After months of negotiation, Stephen Lecce, the Ontario Minister of Education, announced that free menstrual products will be provided in schools across Ontario. Shoppers Drug Mart has agreed to donate 6 million menstrual products per year to be distributed to school boards across the province. This initiative is set to start this 2021-2022 school year.

“Access to menstrual products is a right, and feeling clean, confident, and capable during one’s period is a necessity. We can all work toward menstrual equity, and the opportunities are boundless.”

Plan International Canada conducted a survey and it was found that 63% percent of women and girls have “regularly or occasionally missed an activity because of their period and concerns about not being able to access menstrual hygiene products or proper facilities.” This obstacle that some menstruators face in not being able to afford menstrual products is known as “period poverty”, which Ontario’s new initiative will work to reduce.

Although this is a step forward, there is still a lot more work that needs to be done.

The deal with Shoppers Drug Mart is definitely good news for Ontario menstruators, however only free pads will be provided to school boards. This could be improved upon by renegotiating for a wider range of menstrual products to ensure that menstrutators have both access AND comfort. Another improvement that could be made is to increase the number of menstrual products donated. The 6 million products break down to about 10 pads per student per year, which could easily be used in one cycle.

To this day, menstruation, a necessary biological function experienced by half of the global population, is still stigmatized and seen as a taboo topic. Due to the lack of open conversation on this topic and the taboos that surround it, in many countries around the world there is a significant lack of health education to people about the menstrual cycle. This leads to myths and false information being spread to young, susceptible menstruators. By having open conversations about menstruating and knocking down the idea that menstruation is a closed-door topic, we can empower and amplify the voices of menstruators.

Want to help the fight in diminishing period poverty?

The push for the Ontario government to implement free period products in schools was fueled by organizations such as Bleed the North and the Toronto Youth Cabinet. This shows that with passion and drive, the voices of the youth can be heard and change will follow. There are many organizations, such as Bleed the North and Period Pop-Ups (which was founded by two McMaster students), that accept donations of menstrual products.

Bleed the North: https://www.bleedthenorth.org

Period Pop-Ups: https://periodpopup.org

by Harni Ganesarasa '24 (Blog Subcommittee Member)