In light of the news that 1 in 6 UK women or members of their family have been affected by period poverty, Hey Girls have teamed up with The Big Issue to launch a major new campaign that powerfully highlights the continued reality of period poverty in the UK.
The social enterprise, who seek to end period poverty with a range of buy-one-give-one period products, have released a range of stylishly packaged period products named UNsanitary – but, like the name suggests, don’t expect to find tampons or sanitary towels inside. Instead, these packs are filled with items such as loo roll, newspapers and socks that children in poverty are forced to use in lieu of period products.
With 17% of the UK’s population being affected by period poverty, and 45% of the public remaining unaware of the severity of the problem, there’s never been a more important, necessary time to continue raising awareness about the severity of period poverty. To top it off, proceeds from sales are being donated to help girls and young women in need.
Hey Girls founder, Celia Hodson, said: “Period poverty simply shouldn’t be an issue in the UK today. It seriously affects lives and is frankly unacceptable. Progress is being made – schools in Scotland have had access to free period products for over 12 months, and schools in England can now opt in to free period products being made available to them, but there’s much more to be done; especially for girls that aren’t in school, in schools that haven’t opted into the scheme, and for those in higher education.”
Period poverty is typically referred to as a lack of access to sanity products due to financial constraints, and this campaign is arguably one of the best campaigns to date.
