TOMORROW WITH YOU EP 4 FREE

Period products should be readily available to all the people who need it at an affordable price or even better free of cost. It`s not healthy, it`s not safe and it`s certainly not okay. Menstruators have to turn towards unlikely makeshift products to keep them from bleeding all over or skip school or work and end up in a more cumbersome position than before. In a country like Pakistan, where according to the finance department about 55 million people are below the poverty line, do you think that period products are seen as vital? Periods don`t stop for pandemics or for natural disasters, they don`t wait for the next paycheck or stop to see if the other person can afford said products or have access to basic necessities of life. In a world where non-menstruators don`t understand the enormity of the need associated with menstrual products, they are deemed unnecessary. Asking someone to buy them pads is a battle in itself because it feels gross and shameful, which it isn`t but that`s how women are made to feel about it. The fact that we don`t talk about it, is an issue in itself, most of the non-menstruators don`t even know what a period is, but even more baffling is the fact that even girls don`t know what puberty entails, according to a UNICEF report of 2017, about 49% of girls in Pakistan didn`t know what a period was until they hit menarche. God-forbid we talk about one of the most basic physiological mechanisms of a body with a uterus. It`s a worldwide issue and no one is talking about it, because of the apparent stigma attached to it. This issue is not just of the developing world but even in developed countries like the US about 500 million people lack access to basic period products. Period poverty to put simply is the inability to afford menstrual hygiene products, facilities and education. Grace meng said, “menstrual equity is not a choice or a luxury, it is a human right and a health right”. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writers and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one. She is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations ( IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting.

Tafiya Erum Kamran, a 21-year-old medical student, who is currently studying at Shifa college of Medicine Islamabad, Pakistan.

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms.

Tomorrow with you ep 4