At the NUS conference last Tuesday, delegates voted in favour of using funds to buy tampons, sanitary towels and moon cups. Soon, these products will be offered to students across the UK for free.

The NUS stated that the price of female sanitary wear is “classist” and that students are “one of the hardest hit groups in society due to the government’s austerity policies”.

The government scrapped the 5% “luxury” tax on tampons last year, which considered tampons as a luxurious and non-essential item. Despite this cut, tampons still remain expensive.

In Leeds, it has recently been reported that teenage girls were missing school as they were unable to afford sanitary products. Freedom4girls, a campaign group that provides women and girls with sanitary products in Kenya, has now started providing sanitary products for girls in Leeds too.

Universities such as the University of East Anglia and Birmingham University already offer free tampons and many unions sell sanitary products at cost price.

 

Polly Hatcher

(Image: The Women and Gender Collaborative)