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After a break last week, we were back on Saturday for another Justice Brunch! This time with Tina, the founder of the charity Freedom4Girls; a UK charity tackling period poverty. They aim to support those who menstruate by challenging stigmas, taboos and inequalities associated with menstruation through education and the provision of a choice of sustainable period products.
It seemed fitting that the day before our brunch was Menstrual hygiene day, although Tina pointed out that they wanted to change the name to menstrual health day as the term hygiene implies periods are dirty when they’re completely natural.
Tina told us all about the work she started in 2015 after working on a mother and baby project in Kenya with a friend. She realised that 60% of women there didn’t have access to safe period protection. Many girls were skipping school every time they got their period whilst others were using leaves, bits of mattress, ash, whatever they had available to use as a pad. She also found that some women were so desperate that they were selling their bodies in order to buy pads.
Despite Tina only starting out with a few friends and a sewing machine, Freedom4Girls now sends out hundreds of reusable pads to villages in Uganda and Kenya each year. They provide sustainable long-term products whilst also advocating freedom of choice.
As Tina was speaking, she mentioned that they were in the process of delivering to 120 girls in Kenya that very day.
Freedom4Girls also delivers education programmes out there, for both boys and girls, in order to reduce the stigma around periods and reduce the contraction of HIV and teenage pregnancies. In order to normalise periods, Tina explained, we have to talk about it and that education will last a lifetime.
However, Tina also discovered that period poverty wasn’t just exclusive to developing countries: a study in the UK found that 1 in 7 girls have at some point struggled to afford adequate period products. So Freedom4Girls has since expanded their work to the UK.
They are based predominantly in Leeds and West Yorkshire, but product donation stations have been set up in supermarkets and shops all over. They also run sewing workshops to create reusable pads that last 3-4 years, massively reducing costs in the long term for women and also acting as a more sustainable choice.
Since the pandemic, period poverty has only escalated. Like the lack of toilet roll problem which many people can laugh about now, there was also a period product issue.
It has been particularly difficult for university students without part-time jobs and girls out of school can’t access any free resources their schools might offer. Over the pandemic, Freedom4Girls has increased their output of period packs in the UK from 500 to 2000 per month.
The charity is also pushing for more schools to offer free period products to those who need it, shockingly, only 40% of schools have currently opted into the free product scheme.
Another important project the charity is currently working on is Period Positive Spaces: to aid and assist businesses and public spaces on how they can better support people who menstruate. Tina quoted a recent survey that found 27% of women in the UK never felt supported when they had their periods at work.
The fact that this is the case and period poverty is still rife even here in the UK is
shocking. Half the people in the world menstruate so why are we not talking about this?
So what can we do?
Join Freedom4Girls’ Ambassador Project: they are only a small charity and need more people who are passionate about the topic to spread the word. Every couple of months they run zooms to inspire new ambassadors, so if you think this could be you check out their website!
Make the switch campaign: single use period products cause a monumental amount of waste each year and so Freedom4Girls recognises that in order to support the climate change movement we need to try using products that are more eco-friendly to the planet. For instance, menstrual (moon) cups, period pants and reusable pads.
We recently did a video on period products in our sustainability series – why not check it out for some tips on how to make the switch?
Donate products to a donation station: Across the country there are lots of different donation stations available to drop off period products to help those in your area who can’t afford them. If there isn’t one near you why not contact Freedom4Girls and set one up?
Talk about it: Whether you menstruate or not, period poverty has a far-reaching impact on society – as women often lose out to education and job opportunities because of their periods. In order to end the stigma and educate society we need to have open discussions about periods and that requires input from all genders.
Pray: Freedom4Girls may not be a Christian charity, but what they are doing is showing love and no-judgement to individuals at their most vulnerable, which is exactly what God does. I know that this is repeated again and again, but prayer really is our main tool as Christians and by lifting up the endeavours of Freedom4Girls to God we can pray for success and lasting impact from their work.
Even if you’re not somebody who menstruates, the effects of period poverty are vast on the whole of society – therefore we all need to work to prevent the shame and upset surrounding something that is simply a basic need.
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