Free Period Products in University Bathrooms for all!
Category: Campaign
Voting closed
Let me tell you a modern-day horror story:
So you've come into uni, you've muscled your way onto the 699 in the freezing cold and soaking rain. You're almost there, you walk past the guild, hurrying to class, and then you feel something, you stop, dead in your tracks.
You've got your period.
You quickly get to a bathroom and see you've leaked through. What's your first step? Get a tampon out of the machine? Think again. It only takes coins.
You start to panic and ring an uber, it's an extra £8 you couldn't afford to spend today, but you feel so embarrassed. You want to get you home before anyone can see.
Missing vital learning from that seminar you've just missed. And the university we all pay at least £9,250 to annually cant provide us with free period products in our bathrooms? I have been in this situation many a time as I know many of you will have to.
If John Moores can do it for their students, so can uni of! In a time of the recovery of a nation, after the hard years we have just had, free period products for all women, for all students and those that have periods is a must!
Did you know that It wasn't until 1st Jan 2021 that period products were seen as essential items for women? We are moving in the right direction, but the time is now for our basic, human, essential needs need to be met, by the establishment we put out trust, care, money, and effort to every day. In the UK, 1 in 10 girls can't afford to buy menstrual products, while 1 in 7 have struggled to afford them, according to a representative survey of 1,000 girls and young women aged 14-24.
Lets make this a reality in our uni!
Comments
The University have recently installed 12 period product dispenser units across campus, prioritising key buildings. These contain both pads and tampons, which are available to students free of charge. These are currently only available in the women’s bathrooms. However, I am continuing to push for these to be rolled out across all the male, gender-neutral and disabled toilets on campus as well. The University is undergoing reviews of usage and costings at present, with the look to increasing the number of units across campus later on in the year. In the meantime, I have asked for baskets with free products (like the ones we have in the Guild) to be placed in all other bathrooms, so that all students have some provision for the time being. I would also like to acknowledge that I am aware the branding is not ideal. I have flagged this up with the University so that we can move forward to an inclusive branding so that all our menstruating students are respected. You can find the period product dispenser units in the following buildings: both the Sydney Jones & Harold Cohen Libraries, the 502 Teaching Hub, Management School, CTL, Cedar House, Herdman Laboratory, Rendall, Sherrington, Eleanor Rathbone, Life Sciences and Harrison Hughes buildings. - Lina Dubbins, Vice President.
An update on Lina's work on expanding the provision of free period products on campus, can be found here: https://www.liverpoolguild.org/articles/officer-win-for-students-free-period-products-across-uol-campus