The Periodical - The latest period tax and menstruation-related news, events and resources

Hello,
Welcome to the latest edition of the Periodical! As always, we’re bringing you the most interesting period tax and menstrual hygiene-related news, views, upcoming events and new resources directly into your inbox.

First up a quick reminder: There’s still time for Menstrual Hygiene Day partners to sign up to a free digital campaigning programme from Lightful.

The deadline to apply is this Friday 18 February! Check the MH Day website for more info.

Period poverty news from around the world

Image: Dasser Kamran/Fulcrum

As of January 2022, sanitary products are now available free of charge to all girls attending state and private secondary schools in the Seychelles.
Luxembourg's capital city installed free sanitary products in a handful of both male and female public toilets – a small number still but we are hopeful that it will succeed and scale.
And while talking about numbers, in Colorado, US two girl scouts collected over 75,000 donations of sanitary pads for their local middle school. Impressive!
Global Citizen have recognised five South African celebrities fighting period poverty.
Period-poverty trailblazer Scotland has made it even easier to access free menstrual products through a dedicated app.
In New Zealand, a tourism operator now offers free products on their boats.
And hot off the press, a petition was launched seeking the mandatory the provision of free pads, upon request, to all patients being cared for in public hospitals in Australia
And the first Global Period Poverty Forum will take place in October 2022. We will keep you updated!

Menstruation and COVID-19 vaccinations

Image: Mamamia.au

Updated research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health into implications of COVID-19 vaccines on menstruation has found a high incidence of various temporary menstrual changes among menstruating women aged 18–30 years old.
Data from US-based app users aged 18–45 years showed that vaccination is associated with a slight and temporary change in cycle length but not period length.
The European Medicines Agency’s safety committee decided to request an evaluation of all available data, including reports from patients and healthcare professionals, clinical trials and the published literature.

MORE MENSTRUAL HEALTH & HYGIENE UPDATES

Menstrual product standards

Members of the International Standards Organization (ISO) have voted to define standards which will ensure safe, monitored and tested menstrual products.
A database for standards for disposable and reusable products has been established by Development Solutions under RHSC’s Innovation Fund https://mnh-standards.rhsupplies.org/
If you want to learn more, we recommend RHSC’s Menstrual Health workstream factsheet (in English, French, Spanish) and MH Hub's newly released In Standards We Trust.

Pandora’s Box is now available on YouTube
Last year we hosted a Pandora’s Box watch party and webinar supported by The Case For Her and Diva Cares. Watch the film on Youtube!

Upcoming webinars and events

Period Posse: Spring 2022 webinar series

This monthly interactive webinar series brings together experts in menstrual health and hygiene from across research, policy and practice to discuss key emerging issues such as the menstruation-related challenges faced by people in prison. Find out more here.

RHSC & MHM in Emergencies Working Group: Webinar series on menstrual waste
There is limited research globally on understanding the environmental impact of menstrual waste and identifying appropriate management solutions in LMICs and humanitarian settings. This three-part webinar series starting on 1 March explores the existing evidence and need for future investments. Sign up for the first webinar here.

Understanding the Menstrual Health Landscape in East Africa

This discussion series seeks to identify and better understand successes, challenges and gaps associated with menstrual health policies, laws, frameworks, and practices in East Africa.

Date 1: 23 February will focus on Tanzania and Kenya.
Date 2: 3 March will focus Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda.

Did you miss out on the WASH United, Days for Girls and WAGGGS Ghana Period Tax webinar earlier this month? You can access the recording on YouTube!

New resources

Menstruation in the workplace
USAID's Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS) invested in action research in 2019-2022 to better understand the relationship between menstruation and women’s opportunities for economic empowerment and growth. They have released a wealth of learning briefs, webinar recordings as well as behavior change communication materials.

Menstrual hygiene spaces in humanitarian settings
Y-Lab used human-centered design process to design and build safe, semi-permanent latrine and bathing areas in Bidi Bidi Camp in Uganda. Read the article with their findings and recommendations.

We hope you enjoyed reading this issue of the Periodical. If you'd like your news, events and new resources included in the next edition, drop us a line: info@menstrualhygieneday.org!

Yours,

Ina Jurga
International Coordinator MH Day/ WASH United