Victoria has become the first Australian state to offer free tampons and pads in schools, saving families money and challenging the Aunt Flo stigma.
“Pads and tampons are just as essential as toilet paper and soap,” says Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.
The A$20.7 million government program was set up in a bid to help girls and young women feel more confident and avoid skipping schools for their inability to afford sanitary products. Women’s rights advocates are calling for other states to face the “period poverty” struggle, most common among indigenous and homeless girls.
“Certainly more can be done, this is an important first step. We would like to see all states in Australia follow suit,” said Hayley Cull, advocacy director of Plan International Australia, to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
While many countries still endure menstrual taboo, period poverty campaigns have been successfully making noise, with Scotland becoming the world’s first nation last year to provide free sanitary items to students.
