Pretoria - The government is still far from eradicating period poverty and ending the stigma involved for all women.
According to activists who took to the Pretoria streets, that reality needed to be prioritised by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
The group of women and men marched from the Union Buildings to the department to call on the powers that be to remember the millions of young women who faced their menstrual period with difficulty every month. They were leading #Team Free Sanitary Pads.
Submitting a petition with over 30 000 signatures, they told government officials they believed that in South Africa about, between four and seven million girls and women were affected by period poverty.
They said many of those menstruators relied on unsafe and unhealthy alternatives, including the use of rags and newspapers.
Nokuzola Ndwandwe said: “There has been a tremendous success in bringing the government to commit towards menstrual health and hygiene management thus far.
“When Tito Mboweni was minister of finance, he made budget commitments to remove VAT and set aside R157 million for free sanitary products for indigent schoolgirls, as well as for women who couldn’t afford it.
“We are still far from the major objective of eradicating period poverty and stigma for all women.
“#TeamFreeSanitaryPads, activists, and local NGOs’ concern is sustainability for our South African women and girls. Although a VAT removal has been plausible, inflation does play a major role in defining the purchasing power of consumers.
“Yes, there is (the possibility of) making sanitary pads free, however, we need to ensure that in the long run the government continues to prioritise women and girls through budget policy tools.
“We can only achieve this through our collective voices by signing this petition and putting pressure on the government to take urgent action.
“South African activists and local NGOs are urgently calling for the government to legislate the provision of menstrual health and hygiene management for young girls, women and menstruators by making sanitary pads, as well as condoms, accessible in vulnerable populations and in schools.”
She said the promulgation of menstrual health and hygiene management legislation will be in line with meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals which promote access to health, support inclusive and equitable quality education, and encourage access to career advancement opportunities, especially for young girls and women, through gender equality.
She added that access to sanitary dignity was a Human Right as per Section 27 of South Africa’s Constitution.
The activists demanded that menstruation be addressed, recognised, and framed as a health issue, not just a hygiene issue.
This must include the overall well-being of “girls, women, and menstruators, in physical, psychological and social dimensions”.
They demanded access to adequate menstrual health information and education at school and community levels. This must be incorporated into the school curriculum.
They called for gender equality, empowerment, and transformation for all “women, girls and menstruators”; conversations to deconstruct narratives by ending the stigma; and, the introduction of government policies that aid and advance the implementation of menstrual health and hygiene management.
Pretoria News