Menstrual products are costly. The average price for tampons increased by nearly 10 per cent from 2022 to 2023, and in northern and remote communities, a pack of pads can now cost up to $30. Due to financial constraints and inflation, thousands of people in B.C. are being forced to choose between period products or food and shelter for themselves and their children.
It’s called period poverty, and one in six Canadians have experienced it. According to a survey conducted by the Period Promise Research Project, 26 per cent of people who menstruate in B.C. say they’ve gone through a period without having menstrual products. This lack of access to period products can have debilitating effects with teen and adult menstruators staying home from school, work, community and social events to bleed in private.
Menstruators who are forced to hide at home often must use unsanitary alternatives, such as old socks and rags or disposable products for longer than recommended by health warnings. People living with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples experience these negative impacts more than other groups.
Although menstruation is a normal physiological phase of the reproduction cycle, period stigma continues to persist. A lack of access to period products can not only create psychological stress but also add to the feelings of shame already associated with this stigma.
United Way BC is destigmatizing periods by creating menstrual product access for British Columbians living in poverty through their Period Promise initiative.
“We’re working with over 200 non-profits across the province to ensure that those most vulnerable have access to these products,” said Kim Winchell, Provincial Director, Community Impact & Investment, United Way BC.
Kamloops and District Elizabeth Fry Society (KDEFS) is one such non-profit organization that has received period products through Period Promise and provided them to people fleeing domestic violence situations. “They are coming from situations where they’re fleeing and they have nothing – not a dollar to their name – and it can be undignifying to have to even ask or talk about these kinds of things,” said Nicole Green, who has helped distribute period products through (KDEFS) and Period Promise in Kamloops. “Period products are often treated as a luxury item rather than what they are, which is a medical necessity,” she said.
Thanks to the generosity of donors and partnering organizations, almost three million menstrual products have been distributed to community organizations like KDEFS through United Way BC Period Promise in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Central Northern Vancouver Island, Thompson Nicola Cariboo, Northern B.C., and Southern Interior in the last six years.
This year, the United Way BC Period Promise Campaign, presented by Pacific Blue Cross in partnership with CUPE 1816, will be expanding their efforts. From May 1 to May 31, 2024, they hope to procure over 500,000 products for vulnerable populations in B.C. “We do that by partnering with up to 100 different workplaces and those workplaces run a donation drive” so employees can pick up an extra box of tampons while they’re grocery shopping and place them into the donation bin”, said Winchell. “We also take financial contributions because we have some rural and remote parts of British Columbia where it’s really difficult to get product into, so in those situations we provide a small grant to non-profit organizations to purchase product in their community.”
All British Columbians can organize a Period Promise campaign to collect menstrual products in their community, schools, workplaces, or union. New and unopened reusable products such as menstrual cups, cloth pads, period underwear, pads, and tampons will be accepted. Monetary donations are also welcome to help those experiencing period poverty.
Learn more about the United Way BC Period Promise collection campaign.