City student council calls for free hygiene items in schools
The city school council demands free menstrual articles in all Hanover schools. The student representatives on the city’s school committee had already submitted an application shortly before Christmas, but the CDU had drawn the issue into the parliamentary group. The students are now hoping for a decision at the next meeting at the end of January.
Free tampons and pads have long been commonplace in pub restrooms
In Scotland, the government has been making menstrual articles available to educational institutions free of charge since 2018, and in Zurich, too, a pilot project is being asked to do so at some schools. What the student representatives demand for the students has long been standard in the toilets of many pubs in this country.
Cost of 200 euros per year
The student representatives argue that financing pads and tampons is a problem for many schoolgirls, because they often have no income of their own and cannot afford the costs of around 200 euros a year. In many migrant families in particular, this topic is only discussed on the spur of the moment. This phenomenon has also been referred to as “period poverty”. In their distress, young people would then use unsuitable articles that could cause damage to their health. Some of the girls refrained from doing so, not even going to class or missing physical education.
During puberty, periods come unplanned
City Student Council spokespersons Denver Sulkovsky and Francisca Janknecht said in a press release: “The period has no regard for perfect timing or situation, and cannot be planned or manipulated. Especially during puberty, when menstruation occurs for the first time and mostly irregularly, this leads to situations in which menstruators are restricted and confronted with insecurity. In addition to the limitations, this also leads to shame for an actually biological process. With free pads and tampons, one could always create a productive and pleasant field of work in schools for the schoolgirls.
Schools don’t have a budget – student representatives buy pads and tampons at their own expense
Some schools have long made these articles available free of charge, but other school administrations would point out to student representatives that there was no money in the school budget for such requests, the student representatives say. A few students had already bought hygiene items at their own expense and distributed them at school for free.
By Saskia Döhner