California and Ontario Announce Sanitary Napkin Distribution to Students | World

Such measures aim to fight against menstrual insecurity, identified as a lack of access or lack of resources to purchase hygiene products and other items needed for the menstrual period (see VIDEO below).

In the case of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that requires public schools and state universities to make tampons available.

California law has established the availability of tampons since 2017, but only for low-income schools. Now, the requirement also applies to other institutions and includes California State University and University of California, two of the state’s top universities.

Democratic lawmaker Cristina Garcia, who wrote the text, explained the measure: “Our biology does not always send an early warning that we are about to have our period. So we often have to stop what we are doing. to manage menstruation. ”

“Just as toilet paper and paper towels are available in virtually every public restroom, period products should also do this,” he added.

Also on Friday, the provincial government of Ontario, Canada announced a partnership with a marketplace to provide free sanitary napkins and other products to students. The intention is to offer 6 million units to schools each year.

“Thanks to the relentless struggle of our young school leaders, it has become extremely clear that menstrual products are a necessity, not a luxury,” said Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce.

In Brazil, Bolsonaro vetoed distribution

Unlike developed countries, President Jair Bolsonaro has vetoed the distribution of free sanitary napkins to low-income public school students and those living on the streets or in extremely vulnerable situations. The decision, published in this Thursday (7) edition of the “Official Journal of the Union”, argues that the text of the draft did not establish a source of funding.

During an event in Paraná, Minister for Women, Family and Human Rights Damares Alves defended Bolsonaro’s veto:

“Today we have to decide, is the priority the vaccine or the tampon? Poor women have always had their period in Brazil and we haven’t seen any government worrying about it. And now Bolsonaro is the executioner, because he won’t be distributing this year, “he said.

In the state of California, which has made the distribution of tampons in public schools mandatory, about 60% of the population is already fully immune to Covid-19. In Canada, this percentage reaches 72%. In both cases, complete vaccination is more advanced than in Brazil, which has not yet reached 50%.

After criticism, the government indicated that it intended to act to “allow the application of the measure”. However, he did not give details on how this would be done.

“Despite the vetoes, the federal government will work to make possible the application of this measure, in compliance with the laws that concern the subject, to adequately meet the needs of this population,” wrote Secom on the social network.