22nd October 2024
PRESS RELEASE
Urgent call for a Menstrual Health, Dignity, and Sustainability Act backed by 35 experts and organisations
With 42 per-cent of girls in the UK struggling to afford period products*, menstrual products generating 28,114 tonnes of waste per year**, and conventional period products containing toxic chemicals and metals***, it’s clear women, girls and people who menstruate are being let down when it comes to their periods.
Wen (Women’s Environmental Network) is urgently calling for a Menstrual Health, Dignity, and Sustainability Act, this Environmenstrual Week (21-25 October), backed by over 35 leading experts, NGOs, academics, environmentalists, and period product manufacturers. Supporters of the act include Baroness Natalie Bennett Green Party peer, Dr. Karen Joash Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, charity Girlguiding, and campaign group Bloody Good Period.
The act, developed by Wen, outlines actionable steps to improve menstrual health, sustainability and ongoing stigma surrounding menstruation. It frames menstruation as both a human rights and public health issue, drawing inspiration from pioneering policies in Catalonia and Scotland that provide free reusable period products to those who menstruate.
It urgently calls for equal access to sustainable period products, improved menstrual education, independent testing, transparent product labelling and stronger regulations. Currently period products are regulated under the same legislation that covers other consumer items like candles and cutlery.
Wen’s research shows that more than eight in 10 (86%) UK women and people who menstruate agree period products must be better regulated and manufacturers should be made to list the contents on product packaging (89%).
Helen Lynn Wen Environmenstrual Campaign Manager and author of the Menstrual Act says:
“It’s time we recognise menstrual health for the critical issue it is. This act represents a vital step toward ensuring dignity, health, and sustainability for women, girls and all those who menstruate. Our goal is to protect menstrual health and the planet by advocating for stronger regulations, better education and encouraging the use of safer, reusable products.”
Baroness Natalie Bennett Green Party peer says:
“The surge of new reusable period products is great for sustainability, reducing waste, particularly plastic waste, as we come to understand how we have choked our planet and are filling our bodies with microplastics. But, improved regulation remains crucial to ensure that manufacturers don’t use or allow toxic chemicals in the rush to sell us their products. That is why I’m taking through the House of Lords the Consumer Products (Control of Biocides) Bill, which seeks to end all unnecessary use of toxic products, which not only threaten our health but promote antimicrobial resistance, threatening the medicines we need.”
Dr. Karen Joash, Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Scientific Advisor to Global Black Maternal Health and Tommy’s Charity says:
“Many women and those who menstruate have been unaware of the vulnerability of the vaginal and vulval areas to harmful chemicals, which has limited their ability to make informed health choices. As a gynaecologist, we understand that the high absorption capacity of this region is significant – so much so that we commonly use it for administering medications. This makes it especially concerning when toxic chemicals are present in period wear, potentially causing long-term health issues. Women and those who menstruate need greater awareness and strong legislation to protect them from these harmful effects, ensuring that products used in intimate areas are safe and free from dangerous substances.”
Hon. Tània Verge is an MP in the Parliament of Catalonia and former Minister of Equality and Feminisms of the Government of Catalonia, which in March 2024 launched a global first that institutes the right to menstrual equity. This includes the free distribution of reusable menstrual products through local pharmacies to all girls, women and other menstruating people aged 10-60.
Hon. Tania Verge Mestre MP in the Parliament of Catalonia says:
“Governments must guarantee the right to menstrual equity, because sexual and reproductive rights are human rights. Policies such as the free distribution of reusable menstrual products, which Catalonia pioneered in March 2024, have the potential to stir structural changes: eradicating menstrual poverty, putting an end to the social taboos, myths and stigma surrounding menstruation, improving women’s health with free-toxic products, and contributing to the reduction of waste. Gender justice, social justice and climate justice are thus intertwined.”
The full Act and list of supporting organisations can be found here.
We urgently need a Menstrual Act. Please back the act by pledging your support here https://www.wen.org.uk/environmenstrualweek/, write to your MP, and share on social media demanding a #MenstrualActNow.
– Ends –
For further information and interviews with the following please contact Kate Beard on 07950 585284 or kate.beard@wen.org.uk.
- Helen Lynn, Wen Health Advisor, Environmenstrual Campaign Manager and author of the act
- Baroness Natalie Bennett, Green Party peer
- Dr. Karen Joash, Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Scientific Advisor to Global Black Maternal Health and Tommy’s Charity
- Dr. Maria Tomlinson, Researcher in Health Communication and Social Inequalities
- Monica Lennon, Labour MSP, architect of Scotland’s period products law
Statistics in full
- *42% of girls in the UK struggle to afford period products resorting to makeshift items like toilet paper. – Plan International UK. Let’s Talk Period. Accessed 10/23
- **Disposal of menstrual products – tampons, pads, cups and period pants generates 28,114 tonnes of waste per year in the UK. – Blare, L.A.G et al. An exploratory study of the impact and potential of menstrual hygiene management waste in the UK. Cleaner engineering and technology. Vol 7. (2022)
- ***Period products have been found to be a considerable source of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as phthalates, bisphenols and parabens for women. These chemicals are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, birth defects, asthma and allergies. This is because the skin of the vagina is extremely absorbent, so the absorption rates are higher. – Gao, Chong-Jing et al. Feminine Hygiene Products a Neglected Source of Phthalate Exposure in Women. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, 54, 930−937 and Gao, Chong-Jing. Phthalates, bisphenols, parabens, and triclocarban in feminine hygiene products from the United States and their implications for human exposure. Environment International 136 (2020) 105465
About Wen’s survey
The survey of 1,034 UK adults who menstruate (including 89 18-24 year-olds) was carried out online by OnePoll between 25 September – 3 October 2024. This included 1,016 cisgender-females, 12 people who identify as non-binary and 6 with an alternative identity.
About Helen Lynn
Helen Lynn has spent her career building feminist health campaigns including founding the Alliance for Cancer Prevention and From Pink to Prevention. She has worked at national, European and International levels on issues linking gender, health and the environment.
About Baroness Natalie Bennett
Baroness Natalie Bennett has been a Green Party member of the House of Lords since 2019. Leader of the Green Party from 2012-2016, she’s focused on getting human life within planetary boundaries, with a particular focus on “novel entities”, meaning pesticides, plastics and pharmaceuticals. A feminist since age five, she worked as a volunteer with the National Commission of Women’s Affairs in Thailand back in the 1990s, when she also worked on women’s issues for the World Health Organisation.
Her book ‘Change Everything: How We Can Rethink, Repair and Rebuild Society’ came out in March and is a practical guide to rethinking the way we live, for a fairer future.
About Hon. Tania Verge Mestre MP in the Parliament of Catalonia
Hon. Tània Verge is an MP in the Parliament of Catalonia and former Minister of Equality and Feminisms (May 2021 – Aug 2024) of the Government of Catalonia, which in March 2024 launched a global first that institutes the right to menstrual equity in order to further gender justice, social justice and climate justice: the free distribution of reusable menstrual products through local pharmacies to all girls, women and other menstruating people aged 10-60.
She is also Full Professor of Politics and Gender at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), where she led the Equality Unit between 2014 and 2021. Her research focuses on how political institutions are patterned through gender and on resistance to the adoption and implementation of equality policies. She has advised national institutions and international organisations on gender sensitising initiatives and feminist redesign, such as the Council of Europe, EIGE, the Parliament of Catalonia and the Catalan Ombudsperson.
https://catalangovernment.eu/catalangovernment/news/488927/the-government-approves-a-pioneering-mens