EnACT
Free Period Products In All Public Bathrooms
LEAD Facilitator
Pranav Patel '22
LEAD Facilitator
Sam Taylor '21
Document Type
Presentation
Type
EnACT
UN Sustainable Development Goal
UNSDG #5: Gender Equality
Start Date
28-4-2021 9:15 AM
End Date
28-4-2021 9:35 AM
Abstract
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Five is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” As such, menstruation equity, in the distribution of those products, is necessary amongst all genders. To achieve total gender equality, menstrual products need to be openly available in populated public places like bathrooms. Gender equality needs to encompass and empower all genders and their needs. Even though some women’s bathrooms provide menstrual products, however most of the time they ask for money, we can never find them in men’s restrooms. Within both restrooms, it is imperative to have sufficient, free supply of menstrual products including, but not limited to, pads and tampons. It is extremely inequitable to assume those using a designated “male” restroom do not menstruate. Furthermore, in most public women’s restrooms, in order to use a menstrual product, one would need to pay. However, we should never put a price on a basic human necessity. When promoting gender equality, there should not be a promotion or differentiation between “women” and “men”. Gender is a social construct that contains a spectrum with, at many times, no definitive labels. As such, we propose a straightforward and simple solution: include free menstrual products in all public bathrooms. Thus, this will promote gender equality as anyone will be able to use and dispose of menstrual products in a safe, hygienic, and equitable manner.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Free Period Products In All Public Bathrooms
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Five is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” As such, menstruation equity, in the distribution of those products, is necessary amongst all genders. To achieve total gender equality, menstrual products need to be openly available in populated public places like bathrooms. Gender equality needs to encompass and empower all genders and their needs. Even though some women’s bathrooms provide menstrual products, however most of the time they ask for money, we can never find them in men’s restrooms. Within both restrooms, it is imperative to have sufficient, free supply of menstrual products including, but not limited to, pads and tampons. It is extremely inequitable to assume those using a designated “male” restroom do not menstruate. Furthermore, in most public women’s restrooms, in order to use a menstrual product, one would need to pay. However, we should never put a price on a basic human necessity. When promoting gender equality, there should not be a promotion or differentiation between “women” and “men”. Gender is a social construct that contains a spectrum with, at many times, no definitive labels. As such, we propose a straightforward and simple solution: include free menstrual products in all public bathrooms. Thus, this will promote gender equality as anyone will be able to use and dispose of menstrual products in a safe, hygienic, and equitable manner.