GentTonight PVDA has proposed to the city council to place vending machines with hygienic material in all schools, read: tampons and sanitary towels. “Research shows that 1 in 5 girls in Belgium has difficulty in paying for menstrual material, so many girls even regularly stay away from school”, says Tom De Meester. The city recognizes the problem but does not want machines. “Schools are already offering free sanitary towels, specifically to girls who need them. That relationship of trust is important. ”
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Menstrual poverty was the term used by Tom De Meester (PVDA). “According to our youth association RedFox, vending machines at school can really make a difference. We would simultaneously break the taboo around menstruation and fight menstrual poverty. Because not only is it difficult to admit that you have financial problems at home, it is also not nice to have to ask for sanitary towels at the secretariat. That threshold is too high for many girls, which is why they stay at home. We must not tolerate that. ”
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Trust
Education ships Elke Decruynaere (Green) recognizes the problem. “But schools are already offering free sanitary pads to girls they know they need. That relationship of trust is important. Getting free sanitary towels from a machine where everyone can see it is also not easy. Better then the discretion in the secretariat. Moreover, such machines are expensive and you shred the budget. Wouldn’t it be better to spend all the budget on the girls who really need it, and thanks to that bond of trust also be able to tackle the underlying problem – poverty itself? Pupils should know that they can also turn to the teachers with intimate problems. ” So no machines, but Decruynaere does indicate that it wants to discuss the topic with, among others, the OCMW, students themselves, and associations that fight against poverty.
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The Master is disappointed. “This is about a basic need, and the fact that 1 in 5 sometimes stays at home because of menstrual problems, shows that the threshold to get sanitary towels at the secretariat is still too high. Countries like Great Britain and Scotland do put machines in schools. ”
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Striking: Karla Persyn van Groen voted – intentionally or otherwise – with the opposition, pro vending machines at school.
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