December’s #PeriodPower Moments

Written by Cinestie Olson

December was an impactful month for menstruators across the world! What better way to kick off the new year than to highlight December’s finest #PeriodPower moments? ✨ 

SPAIN

After discussing the possible severe mental and physical period symptoms menstruators can experience, lawmakers in Spain adopted a new bill to allow menstruators paid menstrual leave in their workplaces (how amazing is this?) This bill won with 190 votes in favor of menstrual leave and will now go to the Spanish Senate. When the bill is adopted, Spain will be the first European country to have period leave (ahem, United States). Not only does this bill provide paid menstrual leave, it also allows Spanish minors to be able to have an abortion without parent permission, as well as provide required sex education, contraceptives, and period products in high schools! 

VIRGINIA

Two students at Albemarle High School in Albemarle County, VA, are dedicating themselves to help eliminate period poverty! Weining Ding and Avery Buren, students at AHS, started a program called empowerHER to collect period products and provide them to students at their local middle school and high school. So far, they’ve received over 10,000 items! We love to see younger generations bringing awareness to period poverty and the importance of free period products in public places! 👏

TEXAS

There is now free access to period products in the city of Dallas, TX! Period Access Dallas Initiative (PAD) is a program that was an equity response to period poverty in the city. Trained staff members are given these packages of period products that consist of different sized tampons and pads and are distributed to 72 different public restrooms across Dallas! Menstruators in Dallas are able to return to any of these public restrooms monthly to grab a new period package. We hope to see more initiatives like this throughout different cities in the U.S.!

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Inner West, a region in Sydney, Australia, now has free period products at pools and other locations! The Inner West Council installed vending machines that dispense free pads and tampons in different areas of the region. These vending machines are placed in public pools, libraries, and youth centers! These vending machines are completely contactless, and you simply just have to wave a hand to access the period products (technology is rad). This initiative is meant to help provide period products to menstruators who may not have access, as well as breaking the stigmas of periods and people who menstruate!