A study led by dr. Donovan has found that students from the immigrant communities in Maori and the Pacific Islands in New Zealand, who are statistically more likely to be affected by poverty, can also no longer afford products. Fifteen percent of Maori students and 14 percent of Pacific students missed school because they did not have menstrual periods, the study showed.
Sanitary products can cost up to $ 15,000, or $ 10,800, during a person’s lifetime, said Miranda Hitchings, co-founder of Dignity NZ, a for-profit organization that provides free sanitary ware to schools, youth and community organizations. , said.
“This is a significant cost that can be part of a student loan or a home deposit,” she said. “But because of the gender cyclical nature of poverty, it’s another thing that puts women, or people with periods, on the back foot.”
Before local news reports came out in 2016 about the extent of poverty in New Zealand, there was relatively little public awareness of the problem, Ms. Hitchings said.
“We talked to schools and found that it was not only real, but that it was incredibly common,” she said. “We have also found that locals, such as nurses and teachers at schools, buy products for their students out of their own pocket.”
There has also been a sharp increase in period poverty since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she said.
At the end of 2019, a campaign for products for free periods got steam, when me. Hitchings, her co-founder Jacinta Gulasekharam, and other fighters submitted a petition with 3,000 signatures to the country’s parliament in which they asked for free periods for all students.