Despite Government schemes allowing free period products in schools, almost a third of girls and young women are unable to access them. The findings come on the back of a survey commissioned by Girlguiding, which found 32 per cent saying they could not access free menstrual products at their school or college because they were unavailable.
The charity is now urging the Department of Education (DfE) to evaluate England’s Period Products Scheme and make it permanent. Currently, the scheme is only available until the end of this month, but the DfE said it is “in the process of extending the programme to run until at least 2024”.
Savanta surveyed 2,008 girls aged 11 to 18 across the UK between June 13 and 22 for the charity. It found that more than one third of students said they could obtain free period products in their school toilets (35 per cent), but another third revealed they have to ask a teacher if they want to access them (32 per cent).
