The initiative approved in Michoacán for the free distribution of feminine hygiene products for girls and adolescents in public schools opens the way in Mexico, a country where talking about menstruation is still not easy and is full of taboos, especially in the most deprived areas . The link with the educational system is pertinent because a large part of school absenteeism is due to the impossibility of obtaining sanitary napkins, tampons and other items on menstruation days. The pain associated with the period also causes the loss of school days throughout the course. 42% of schoolgirls have ever missed school due to menstruation and 22% stayed home "for fear of staining their clothes or being noticed that they were on their period," according to a survey carried out last year. by U-Repor and several other organizations, including Dignified Menstruation in Mexico (MDM) and Unicef.

The distribution of hygiene items among the students has reached the federal Congress. An initiative presented in June 2020 is now being debated in the Education Commission, prior to its debate and eventual approval in plenary session. Also in September of last year, the deputies presented another proposal to eliminate the 16% VAT with which these essential products are now charged. It did not prosper. But they will try again. In Mexico, following the same survey cited above, 11% of women choose pads, tampons or other items based on their cost, and most of them spend between 50 and 100 pesos [2.3 and 4.7 dollars] per month in this chapter. This is not little for a country where the scourge of the pandemic has left between six and 11 million people struggling to pay for basic food, and several million more people live in poverty at any level. 12% have had to stop using items for the period due to the hardships experienced in this pandemic. In Congress there is also a work table, coordinated by Verónica Juárez, to discuss the needs posed by menstruation.

Michoacán does not yet have an approved budget to begin distribution in schools. Deputy Antonio Madriz Estrada, who has taken the initiative to the state Congress, estimates that in 2022 that money will already be available. This was stated this Friday in a digital press conference in which deputies Lorena Villavicencio and Martha Tagle participated, two of the legislators most committed to these problems, which affect half of the population. While the resources arrive, the women of Menstruación Digna México (MDM) have already offered to give workshops to train teachers in schools, because education on this matter is something they consider a priority. “In the textbooks, barely a couple of paragraphs are dedicated to the rule,” complains the MDM spokeswoman, Anahí Rodríguez.

The survey, which was answered mainly by women between the ages of adolescence and 24, highlights the information gap that exists in schools about menstruation. 64% of those who responded do not receive specific education on this matter, or talks, nor do they have books where they can be informed. The friends, yesterday and always, and the internet is now the source of knowledge (46%) about the period, and that does not seem to dissolve the taboos. The questionnaire also reveals the precarious conditions that exist in many educational centers in the country to spend the period days. 9% do not have access to water frequently, 24% do not even have toilet paper and 29% only sometimes; in a school room there is no private bathroom where you can change and wash yourself comfortably. With these wickers, it is not surprising that 97% of those consulted welcome the free distribution of supplies in schools. In Scotland it was also approved in 2018. Schools are the key to a healthy education in this field, to break taboos between boys and girls and to prevent poverty from increasing discrimination and the gap between adolescent girls for that reason.

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Despite this survey, with a small sample of individuals, just 1,577 responses and very focused on Mexico City, the lack of data in the country is flagrant. It is not known what women think, what they feel, material deficiencies, the difference between rural and urban areas, etc. That is the reason for influencing the need to investigate this matter. In the absence of a clear diagnosis, the remedies are coming from intuition. Realities prevail. Everyone knows that the concerns and problems that menstruation may cause among women will be more pronounced in rural areas and in indigenous communities, which is why the Michoacán project will be gradual, starting with those places most in need of training and supplies, as has been declared this Friday, from Michoacán, Lisel Lifshitz, director of Mujeres Aliadas AC, an organization integrated in MDM.

When the difficulties of the period are still evident for millions of women in Mexico, when their first menstruation, 33% of those consulted related it to fear, 4% felt disgust and 10% sadness; when 2% say they do not use any of the products that are on the market on the days of the period, 8% still do not have access to medications to combat associated pain and 13% still consider that it is only a matter that concerns women, when all this happens, the laws passed to eliminate disposable plastic tampons were swept away in Mexico City, leaving few alternatives to those affected. They were going to take a similar measure in Michoacán, but the members of MDM managed to stop a new difficulty for women.

And it is not the only one. They are still fighting for the incarcerated women to have free access to these products, something that the law contemplates is not fulfilled. Menstruation, say those who deal with breaking down barriers and discrimination, is also a matter of dignity.

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