Period poverty still a problem within the EU despite tax breaks

In some countries, costs remain high for women despite tax breaks with many not being able to buy their product of choice.

Transcript

00:00Approximately half of the EU menstruates or will do at some point of their lives, but

00:06that does not mean access to menstrual products is guaranteed.

00:11There is no official EU data on how many women suffer menstrual poverty, but Belgian NGO

00:17Bruxelles believes that in Belgium 1 in 15 people cannot buy their choice of product.

00:22At some point, we have to make a choice between a first necessity product and the purchase

00:28of menstrual products.

00:29So at some point, we have to choose either, for example, between eating or buying a menstrual product.

00:34When we get to this observation, it is that we are really in the framework of menstrual

00:38precariousness.

00:39We also add two variants that really aggravate this situation, which are the lack of

00:45menstrual information, but also the lack of a secure and well-adapted place to be able

00:50to change in all safety.

00:52Since 2022, the EU allows member states to sell menstrual products without VAT.

00:58For now, Ireland is the only one doing so.

01:01Most of them have reduced taxes between 5 to 10 percent, but others remain high, like

01:06Hungary at 27 percent or Sweden and Denmark both at 25.

01:11One of the options to alleviate the cost of menstrual products is using reusable ones.

01:16Catalonia recently started giving out a menstrual cup, a pad or a pair of period underwear

01:21to fight menstrual poverty.

01:24Menstruation still has lots of taboos, stigma and silences in society.

01:30This is why this is a universal action.

01:32We need to change the way society has been dealing with menstruation as a private issue,

01:38as something that is not spoken about, because these myths, these stigmas have also implications

01:45on women's health and well-being.

01:48According to the Catalan government, 23 percent of women in the region are reusing single-use

01:53products and 44 percent can't afford their first choice.