Extra Padding

Regardless of crisis and purchase or roaming restrictions; girls and women all over the world face the responsibility of covering their own feminine, basic needs. A few empathetic countries provide free sanitary products in schools and public spaces but for the rest, periods remain a social taboo. Fifty years ago, sanitary items were sold wrapped in newspaper by a male shopkeeper reluctant to handle or speak of a woman’s problem. In many cultures, periods are still regarded as an unclean social inconvenience.

So, here we are today; sanitary towels, pads or cups are sold and kept in pretty, discreet packages at a price many cannot pay. For a struggling family, a teenage girl or her mother’s menstrual cycles do not take priority amidst a desperate existence. Let’s add a pandemic to this imbalance. Supermarkets are restricting multiple purchases. But look on the shelves; you cannot even buy one of something you really need. What about those who have irregular or heavy periods? Do they revert to using socks or towels?

For those unable to understand sharing or kindness; when is excess enough for you? If there are girls and women around you who need sanitary basics, please consider donating/gifting them or their school with essentials. The obsession with toilet roll hoarding may seem necessary for many but we all expect toilet rolls and hand wash in public spaces. Why are female monthly needs not free and available?

The next time you complain about a shop running out of your favourite brand of food; please consider how you can mend and make do. In a crisis, please try sharing and giving rather than just taking.