Period poverty isn't just about not being able to afford sanitary products. It is about bunking off school and missing lessons because you are worried you will bleed through. It is avoiding doing PE because you don't want to change in front of other people. It is not being able to focus in class or in work because you're paranoid someone will smell you. It is using toilet paper and socks because you can't afford anything more.
Dee Dickens, from Pontypridd, started her period when she was 14. "From that first moment I felt that it was a problem," she said. Get the latest news from Pontypridd sent straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter here. She was one of three sisters and unbeknown to her she was suffering with endometriosis, which meant her periods could last for seven to nine days. She resorted to using the products that her sisters left over but never had enough.
"When I had used what I could find in the house I would resort to using toilet paper or socks," 52-year-old Dee said. She grew up in period poverty and it affected every aspect of her life. Looking back Dee believes that if she had access to period products and didn't feel shame around having her period she would have done far better in education.
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"It was always the smell: 'Can they smell me?'. It kept me from going to school because someone said one day: 'What is that smell?' I was constantly excusing myself from class to go to the toilet, checking if I had bled through on the school chair. I would spend so long in the toilets just cleaning myself up that stuff was basically like tracing paper, really, because I didn't have anything else. I would bunk off sports constantly because I didn't want the other girls to know I was bleeding. I missed out on so much sport and I was good at it."
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When Dee was in school there was the option of going to the school's office to ask for period products but she said it would always be so obvious that that was why you were asking to leave class and only added to the shame and embarrassment of it. She missed so much school as a result of the shame she felt while on her period as well as the pain she suffered due to her undiagnosed endometriosis that she wasn't allowed to sit a GCSE English exam and was placed in a lower class instead. She has no doubt that period stigma and poverty contributed to this as she went on to get an A* in GCSE English as an adult and is now studying a PHD in creative writing.
When Dee left home and was in charge of her own budget she still felt she was undeserving of period products and viewed them as a "luxury", She said: "I would buy one pack of tampons each month and if I run out that was it. I would try and stretch how long I could use them so I was either risking toxic shock syndrome or not having any to use. When I run out it would be back to toilet paper or socks."
Dee had her son when she was 17 years old and like many mums she focused her spending on him. It wasn't until her best friend's mother stopped her to say that period products were a necessity rather than a luxury that she finally felt deserving of them. "That's one of the reasons why I'm talking about it now, as I don't want anyone ese to go through this," she said.
Dee has been working with the Welsh Government on their Period Proud Wales Plan. The plan outlines how everyone should have access to period products whenever they are needed. Those who are struggling to afford menstrual products are being urged to have the confidence to seek the support they need with free period products available in more places than ever before.
More than £12m has been invested in improving access to free period products for children, young people, and those on low incomes in Wales over the last five years. Free period products are available in every school in Wales and across a range of community venues including foodbanks, libraries, leisure centres, family centres, community hubs, and youth services. Sporting and cultural venues as well as employers are also being encouraged to provide free products for staff and visitors. It is hoped this will eradicate period poverty and ensure those who are the most vulnerable have access to period products.
Normalising having a period and removing any sense of shame or stigma around periods is a key priority of the plan. The plan also aims to raise awareness and understanding of both menstrual cycles and the menopause so people have the confidence to speak openly about them so they don’t negatively affect their lives.
Social justice minister Jane Hutt said “A Period Proud Wales sets out our ambitions to ensure period dignity and eradicate period poverty for women, girls, and people who have periods. In order to do this we need to improve access to period products, remove the stigma or taboo around talking about periods and, improve understanding of the impact of periods on people’s lives.” She added: “We know broader socio-economic and environmental factors will affect our ability to meet this vision but we are striving to start a conversation and begin a cultural change that will benefit generations to come.”
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