A FEW weeks ago, I received an email that reduced me to tears – in a good way. Caroline Hughes, a teacher from Belfast Royal Academy, contacted me to tell me how, after hearing an interview on my radio show, she had decided to make sanitary products available for girls in her school – free of charge.
The interview was with Katrina McDonnell from Homeless Period Belfast – a volunteer-led campaign which provides homeless and vulnerable women across Belfast with sanitary and other hygiene items.
Inspired by the heartbreaking scene in Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake, when a mother is caught stealing sanitary products because she can’t afford them, Katrina has been working tirelessly for years to make these products available to anyone who needs them. She conducts this work on a voluntary basis.
Why should sanitary products be available in all schools and public buildings free of charge? Because such action would show that both the dignity and health of women are valued in our society.
Menstruation is difficult for every woman. Some experience severe pain, some bleed for days. It’s far from a pleasant experience but we get on with it. Where sanitary products can’t be afforded, women are forced to use rags or cheap toilet paper from public toilets; some use the same tampons over and over for the duration of their period – which can lead to infection.
Caroline told me that when she was listening to Katrina speak she realised that, given the varied socio-economic backgrounds of the children in her school, there could well be young women among the student population who might not have access to sanitary products because they could not be afforded in their households.
Now, thanks to the efforts of Caroline, her colleagues and her students, the pink paper bag project is up and running and sanitary products are readily available – for free. Students’ blushes are spared because they don’t have to ask for a tampon or a sanitary towel. Instead, the products are readily available and they go through school with their dignity intact.
Speaking of dignity, this pandemic has really hit people’s pockets hard. We are aware that economic hardship exists, but no-one wants to admit the extent of their hardship and so they maintain their silence.
Just like the mother in I, Daniel Blake, some parents might have to prioritise their spending, and sanitary products lose out to other essential items. Free sanitary products in schools and public buildings would go a long way to help with this situation.
Katrina McDonnell of Homeless Period, Belfast had a meeting with the Stormont education committee last week, pleading the case that Northern Ireland should catch up with Scotland England and Wales and provide these products for free in schools.
Meanwhile, while the north plays catch-up, the Scottish Parliament unanimously approved the Period Products Bill. This means that Scotland has become the first country in the world where period products are free for all.
Scotland has led the way on this issue for a long time. Let’s hope that this latest act of leadership from our Scottish cousins will prompt our local assembly to take action. Scotland the brave indeed.
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IT’S the last day of November. Did you panic buy your way through last week? For someone who usually isn’t phased by Christmas shopping, I found myself sucked into the panic and worry that I wouldn't have enough things for Christmas. What if the lockdown continues right up to and including Christmas Day? What if, what if?
Thankfully, I caught myself on. I was letting this uncertain situation with no plan get to me. I really am trying to buy local and was inspired by the Green Friday initiative, which encouraged consumers to Buy Irish.
I know that I sound like a broken record at this point, but if we are lucky enough to have spare money to spend at Christmas, it is more important this year than ever to shop local. Seek out something different, unusual and please keep your hard-earned cash in our local communities.
I am no economist but surely if we all did this, we just might have town centres to go to this time next year?
It’s high time that someone up on that hill came up with a strategy to prevent our small towns from shutting up shop altogether.
And don’t get me started on vouchers. A sticking plaster if ever there was one.
