KAWARTHA LAKES-Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) has launched a campaign to promote menstrual equity.
Data indicated that menstruators face challenges when it comes to affording, accessing, and talking about menstrual hygiene products according to the board. They say some students leave school early or miss an entire school day for reasons related to menstruation. In an effort to change this, the G7 Student Senate identified the need for free menstrual products as a priority to the Board of Trustees in the spring of 2021 and the trustees agreed.
“For the students who had brought this priority forward, the Ministry of Education’s announcement on providing greater access to free menstrual products in Ontario schools, was music to their ears,” states Director of Education, Wes Hahn. “The 2021-2022 school year has seen the installation of dispensers for free menstrual products across TLDSB in female and all-gender washrooms at the secondary school level, and at least one washroom in elementary schools.”
The campaign includes a Menstrual Equity Challenge that will run through to May 27, one day before Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28. Similar to a food drive, the Menstrual Equity Challenge is a drive to collect menstrual hygiene products in their original, unopened packages, and donate them to local organizations chosen by the school’s G7 student representatives.
“It’s time we talk about menstrual health. It’s time we end the stigma associated with a human function. So I challenge all TLDSB students to take part in the Menstrual Equity Challenge and to educate your peers about menstruation, all while donating to a good cause!” said TLDSB Student Trustee, Alexia Evans-Turnbull.
