Making fundamental change for menstrual equity in Halton & Hamilton
When you use a public or workplace washroom, you probably don’t think twice about the fact that toilet paper is available at no cost. It’s a necessity, after all. So why don’t we expect the same when it comes to equally necessary period products?
There’s a global movement toward menstrual equity: Ensuring menstrual hygiene products are affordable, safe and available, especially to those in need. United Way Halton & Hamilton recognizes and supports the need for menstrual equity in our own communities and recently launched the Period Promise Policy – a call-to-action for local businesses and organizations to provide no-cost period products in washrooms for staff, clients and customers.
Leading by example, our CEO, Brad Park, signed the policy, making these products available to staff and visitors at both UWHH office locations, in Hamilton and Burlington.
The policy builds on the momentum of our Period Promise intiative, a period poverty awareness campaign and product drive, which collected more than 30,000 menstrual hygiene products in 2019 and distributed them to those in need throughout Halton & Hamilton.
It might be tough to talk about periods, but it shouldn’t be taboo. About half of the people on the planet will get their periods for four to seven days every month for approximately 35 years of their lives.
In Canada, we know that one in four women has struggled to buy period products for themselves, or for their children. And we recognize that not everyone who menstruates necessarily identifies as a woman.
Having access to menstrual hygiene products is a matter of health, dignity and social isolation that we simply cannot ignore. UWHH is committed to normalizing and destigmatizing periods, and encouraging the community at large to work together toward ending period poverty.
The Period Promise engages organizations that are passionate about women’s issues, transgender rights issues, and all those affected by poverty or stigma around menstruation, to become more active in delivering community solutions.
Sign the Period Promise Policy!
What does it mean to become a Period Promise signatory? You’re helping to make much-needed fundamental change. By providing free, accessible and diverse menstrual products, you are making an investment in the overall health and well-being of our community. Period.
Providing period products is both a concern for human dignity and the realities of the human body. The ability to access these items affects a person’s freedom to work, study, be healthy and participate in daily life.
By signing the Period Promise Policy, your organization will be included on the UWHH website in our list of signatories, and will receive Period Promise recognition certificates to post in your workplace washrooms.
Become a signatory and help lead the change to end period poverty in Halton and Hamilton. To sign the policy, or to learn more about UWHH’s Period Promise, please contact:
Lindsay Forsey lforsey@uwhh.ca or visit uwhh.ca/periodpromise
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