Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Brussels equips secondary schools with menstrual product dispensers after successful pilot projects, aiming to tackle period poverty and provide support for menstruating students. Free products combat social discrimination and promote education.
After the success of 6 pilot projects, all secondary schools in the city of Brussels (16 French-speaking and 3 Dutch-speaking) are now equipped with distribution points for menstrual products. This is what the councillor for Dutch-speaking education Anaïs Maes reports.
How does period poverty affect students in Brussels schools?
Menstruation costs an average of 12 euros per cycle. A study by Caritas Flanders shows that 1 in 8 girls and women (12.5 per cent) between the ages of 12 and 25 sometimes do not have enough money to buy sanitary towels and tampons. For girls living in poverty, this rises to 45 per cent. They borrow from friends or use homemade alternatives, which increases the risk of infections. It is accompanied by fear and shame.
Who initiated the campaign for menstrual product accessibility?
The Brussels city council has therefore decided to provide all its secondary schools with distributors for organic menstrual products. Classes are also organized to combat social discrimination against menstruating girls.
What efforts are made to combat social discrimination against menstruating girls?
“Young girls need information, understanding and guidance to develop without worries. Getting your period is a major event and it should be a given that you can immediately go to school for support and menstrual products. This is a basic need that is still far too expensive for many girls,” says Anaïs Maes. “By offering this for free at school, we remove that concern so that the focus can remain on learning.”
The project has been tested in six schools since 2022 and is now being expanded. “The first phase was the installation of the distributors in schools with a low socio-economic index and that was already in demand. We then analyzed the management of the frequency of use and the quantities required to extend the action to the entire education level,” says Brussels Alderman for French-speaking Public Education Faouzia Hariche (PS).
