What are menstrual products and why they are important
Menstrual products are products used for providing menstrual hygiene during a person’s period, given that menstruation is a process experienced not only by cisgender women but by people of all genders (including transgender men and nonbinary folks).g For instance, pads and tampons are the most common products that are preferred in order to maintain menstrual hygiene which is highly essential.
It is important to understand that a person who has uterus experiences approximately 450 periods in a lifetime, and since sanitary pads, tampons, menstrual cups, etc. are irreplaceable during this timeframe, they stand as a substantial need. Furthermore, usage of these products increases comfort as it decreases the stress due to unhygienic conditions and it noticeably decreases the risk of vaginal diseases and other infections due to lack of decent care of menstrual hygiene.
Reasons why menstrual products are hard to access for everyone
There are two main reasons for this that are necessary to be pointed out. Firstly, stigmatizing having periods like it’s something to be ashamed of and underrating its importance when it comes to preventing STIs lead people to feel guilty about buying these products and thus decrease their usage. For instance, in some countries, the menstrual product sections inside supermarkets are tape-offered like they are unofficially banned from selling them. Hereby, intellectualization of bigoted ideologies, such as stigmatizing periods and even talking about this issue, affect peoples’ perspective on the use of essential hygienic products. Secondly, economic obstacles play a major role in people buying menstrual products. It has been stated many times that menstrual products are expensive for various folks. Nonetheless, this being a fact, some governments also lay specialized taxes on these products for profit. Therefore, these severe issues have been violating many people’s right to maintain their health and well-being.
Succinctly, it is plain as a day that women, genderqueer, and transgender people deserve to reach products to fulfil their needs without feeling any pressure, discomfort, or financial concerns. It is crucial for every community to take a part in supporting the availability of these products, following the example of countries such as Scotland and Ireland, which began to offer free period products.
Yaprak Gürtunca
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