Every month, approximately 1.9 billion people worldwide live with menstruation. Yet talk about it openly it remains a taboo. For many people they are not simply a physiological process, but a reality that entails challenges and discrimination.
In some countries, menstruating people are forced to miss days of school or work due to a lack of sanitary pads or adequate sanitation. Plus menstrual pain is often belittled and perimenopause is not recognized as a condition deserving attention. Stereotypes and jokes about the mood and emotional state of menstruating people continue to perpetuate a culture of stigma.
Precisely to speak openly about these problems the organization WeWorldwhich has been committed to menstrual justice for years, together with CHEAP – a public art collective – launched the campaign “Legalize Menstruation”, conceived for break the silence on a delicate topic such as menstruation and to open a space for public discussion on related rights.
How? Posting in the city of Bologna 25 posters which display, in large letters, the word “MENSTRATION”. The aim is to break the social taboo and stimulate a discussion on menstrual justice as human rights issueinvolving anyone who menstruates. The posters were displayed along Via dell’Indipendenza and will remain there for a month.
Periods are not a luxury or even something shameful
The “Legalize Menstruation” campaign chose a provocative title to underline how often menstruation occurs treated as something shameful or even “illegal” in the public sphere. Menstruation must not be mentioned, it must not be talked about and it can even be hidden.
A reticence which, however, only contributes to misinformation and stigmatisation. Yet the cycle is not neither a luxury nor an exclusively “feminine” theme”, but a matter of human rights and public health.
The campaign aims to raise awareness on issues such as the “tampon tax” and menstrual leavepromoting inclusive and targeted welfare policies. The goal is to create awareness of the challenges faced by those who menstruateaiming for equitable access to the products and services needed to manage it.
The “tampon tax”, i.e. the tax on sanitary pads, is one of the crucial aspects of the campaign. Although in Italy the VAT on these products has been reduced to 10%, it still remains higher than that of other European countries like France and Germany, where it is lower. In many other countries, such as the United Kingdom, sanitary pads are exempt from VAT.
Period poverty, or the lack of access to hygienic products during your period, is a global problem it limits the social and work participation of many people. To ensure that this doesn’t happen again, you need to adopt a perspective of menstrual justicefinally living free from stigma and discomfort.
To strengthen the message launched with the campaign, the “Legalize Menstruazioni” event will be held in Bologna on Friday 18 October. From Street Poster Art to podcasts to tell us that menstruation is not just for women”, within the WeWorld Festival Bologna – Films and Stories from the Margins. The event will give further voice to the topic of menstrual justice through art, debates and podcasts to shout out loud “no more prejudice”.
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