More needs to be done to end stigma around period poverty, charity warns

While Scotland has been “at the forefront” of efforts to tackle period poverty, a charity has warned that more must be done to end the stigma surrounding menstruation.

The Pachamama Project has volunteers across Britain who make reusable pads for refugees and vulnerable people – but it’s warning the issue is closer to home than we think, with one in five women experiencing period poverty in the UK.

The charity was launched by Ella Lambert from her home in Essex in 2020 while she was studying at university.

Ella had suffered from debilitating period pain growing up, meaning she knew what it was like to miss out on days of education and events because of her period.

She has since built up a network of over 2,500 volunteers who have collectively made over 160,000 reusable pads, supporting 20,000 people out of period poverty in over 10 countries.

One group of volunteers in Edinburgh decided to come together as a group once a month in Portobello to make the pads.

Chair of the E Pachas, Kay Ross, said: “When you think of refugees, you think of hunger, you think of homelessness, you think of being on the move.

“But you don’t then think ‘well, if half of them are women and they’re on the move, how do they cope when they get their period? Where do they get period pads from, what do they do?’ And we never ever think of it.”

Volunteers in Edinburgh gather once a month to make reusable sanitary pads STV News

But what started as support for women in developing and war-torn countries has now extended to helping people locally.

Volunteer Linda Ingham said: “We put ours all together and ship them down to Essex, where the headquarters of Pachamama is. From there, they go to places like Lebanon, Syria, Uganda, many places.

Recently there have been moves to try and help period poverty in the UK by supplying pads and that’s being investigated at present.”

Since the project began, the number of women experiencing period poverty in the UK has doubled – from one in ten to one in five.

During that time, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products free for everyone.

But concerns remain that barriers still prevent many women from accessing the support they need.

Founder Ella Lambert said: “Scotland has pioneered menstrual health policy and I think it’s something that should be done everywhere.

“Obviously in Scotland, everybody has access to free period products, which is absolutely incredible. But there’s so much more we can do in Scotland and beyond.

“We work in 12 countries and consistently the stigma is debilitating everywhere, regardless of whether you’re in a rural area, or a refugee camp, or a city in the UK.

“The stigma is so prominent and it really stops people from accessing the period care that they need.”