Government to provide free Period Products in schools

Some good news in these overwhelming times is exactly what we need right now, and the government has provided. 

Many female students miss school and are make-shifting items out of telephone books, toilet paper and rags because the cost of menstruation products is just too high. When you're living on $10 a day, a $6 packet of pads becomes less of a priority than food.

This week, Jacinta Gulasekharam, Co-Founder and Director for Dignity NZ and the Positive Periods campaign team were invited to consult with the Prime Minister and Minister for Women on the roll-out of free and accessible sanitary items in schools.

In a massive step to tackle period poverty, The Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools in term three, following the government's $2.6 million investment. The roll-out will begin at 15 Waikato schools and be expanded to all state and state-integrated schools on an opt-in basis in 2021.

We talked to Jacinta Gulasekharam about her amazing work alongside Miranda Hitchings, and how this step is only the beginning of ending Period Poverty.