You may have seen pics on your social media page of people with tampons and the hashtag #JustATampon.
Why? A global children’s charity Plan UK and news site V Point want to make periods just periods. They are also asking people to text TAMPON to 7007 to donate £3 to Plan UK. The money will go towards providing girls in developing countries with sanitary napkins and more awareness of menstrual health work. According to Plan UK, “Donations will help tackle discrimination faced by girls globally, not just around menstrual hygiene but other issues they face including child marriage and female genital mutilation.”
The numbers are surprising: “Around the world, millions of girls face discrimination just for being girls. One way this manifests itself is through poor access to quality menstrual health and hygiene. It not only poses health issues, but means girls can miss school when they have their period and face bullying. Only 12% of girls and women have access to sanitary products around the world. And in Africa, one in ten girls miss school when they have their period.”
This is something that most of us have taken for granted. We usually have an older woman who helped us figure out the ins and outs of having a period. Can you imagine a girl not having a sanitary napkin or tampon for her period? This is a huge issue that most of us never knew existed.
