Advertisement

B.C. aims to end ‘period poverty,’ expand access to menstrual products

Click to play video: 'B.C. government announce task force to end ‘period poverty’'
B.C. government announce task force to end ‘period poverty’
The B.C. government announced Friday it will spend $750,000 on a new task force aimed at ending period poverty. The task force will be headed by the United Way and has been given the long-term goal of providing better access to menstrual products. The cost of those products can be challenging for those with financial barriers. – May 27, 2022

The British Columbia government says it is providing $750,000 to expand access to free menstrual products for people who need them and to help the United Way establish a task force to consider how to end “period poverty.”

Nicholas Simons, the minister of social development and poverty reduction, says half of the people who menstruate in B.C. have struggled to buy the products they need at some point in their lives.

He told a Friday news conference that no one should have to stay home from work or school or choose between hygiene and essentials like food.

Asked about earlier calls for the province to make menstrual products available at locations such as schools, workplaces, pharmacies and government offices, Simons says there’s a big difference between having the products available at home and having to access them in public spaces.

Story continues below advertisement

He says previous research has shown that limited access to menstrual products means people are likely to stay at home, and the task force will look at where the most effective locations might be to make products available.

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Neal Adolph with the United Way says half of the funding that’s intended to last for two years will go to the task force and the other half will support the organization’s work to increase access to menstrual products across B.C.

Click to play video: 'Campaign to end period poverty in Northern B.C. communities'
Campaign to end period poverty in Northern B.C. communities

The period poverty task force is due to provide a final report in March 2024.

The task force will be chaired by Nikki Hill, who has previously worked on a provincially funded research project with the United Way looking at the impacts a lack of access to menstrual products can have on a person’s life.

Story continues below advertisement

“Before we started some of this work, we had no idea what a common problem it was for people in our communities,” Hill told the news conference.

The task force will look at creating equity for those people, she says.

Students have had access to free menstrual products in the washrooms of B.C. public schools since 2019, the Ministry of Social Development says.

 

Sponsored content

AdChoices