Welsh Government Period Dignity Action Plan Consultation

Thanks for highlighting this.

I found it jaw dropping that a document supposedly about period dignity would entirely leave out any mention of a need for privacy and discretion. It's like they have had zero candid input from women based on their life experience.

Anyway, have been stuck in the US since covid hit, but have a place in Wales we live in when jobs allow so have filled in the survey response.

Done, I wrote some text about the need for SEX-SEGREGATED clean WC accommodation for women being the greatest contribution that they could make. And that UTIs are killers for women, so we need CLEAN provision, not shared with men which are inevitably filthy.

I then pasted the same text into all the boxes, plus or minus a few words.

Oh, and a few choice words about their dehumanising language, of course.

Today's the closing date for the consultation. I've had input into a group one and trying to decide whether to do an individual one. I really hope they are going to start listening soon. Seeing that Stonewall is on the advisory group for this strategy says it all. It puts women on the group in an impossible position and they probably believe that they are doing it for the benefit of very vulnerable people.

I think the consultation closes at midnight. This blog on the Merched Cymru website might give you some ideas if you want to give it a go. There's been stuff on their twitter too. Can't believe how Welsh Gov are letting people trample all over women! merchedcymru.wales/2022/01/10/periods-not-just-a-womens-issue-but-a-womens-issue-nonetheless/

We feel your pain Oldstyle but have to stay hopeful that repeated, evidence-based responses will eventually have an effect.

We are pointing out that the Period Dignity Action Plan won't actually reach many of the intended beneficiaries if it uses language which prioritises the needs of one group over other, often more vulnerable groups. Those with English as a second language for example, those with learning disabilities, those from cultures which consider menstruation a particularly taboo subject.

And we might send them this useful clarification from the BMJ about the fact that 'gender-neutral' language might well undermine clear, jargon-free communication. pmj.bmj.com/content/97/1150/483

Plus we will remind them that female-only toilets, changing rooms and services are an essential component of period dignity. Without that, girls will continue to be the focus of embarrassment, shaming, harassment, and bullying in relation to their periods.

Please do respond if you can. It's not a complex issue but Welsh Government really do need to get it right - and to put girls first for once.

It is a fairly easy one to respond to but why the hell should we have this constant uphill battle in Wales to get any policy document accepted with the words 'woman' 'female' or 'girl' in it. Or 'men' 'males' and 'boys' for that matter. They only listen to Stonewall - on the LGBTQ+ Action Plan, on the RSE Curriculum, on Period bloody Dignity. Women and girls count for nothing. Even the fact that 2 out of 3 female pupils in Welsh schools have experienced sexual harassment and/or abuse is obscured and gender-neutralised by phrases like 'peer on peer' abuse.
I am trying to write my consultation response without ranting but it is so hard. And I am SO PISSED OFF!

Done and bumping.
It's really easy. You dont need to write a screed. Just put something simple like use the words women and girls, not "people"

Groan, another healthcare initiative focusing on the bodily function rather than the bodies involved.

You can't get female healthcare right if you center the female body parts instead of the female human but it seems like women need to suffer chronic badly managed ailments again before we remember this.

My response to each question was quite churlish but hey:
Stop the erosion of the word woman

Thanks so much for flagging this - I’m going to respond now and I won’t be kind!

Posted too soon. What meant was - some people don't like saying so & so died. As in the web 'to die'......not 'so & so'!

I do find it interesting that it's all about distigmatising periods........yet by using 'inclusive' language one could argue that they're sending a message to girls that the words 'women' and 'girls' are no longer good enough. Girls will pick up on that, and wanting to be super duper kind, maybe end up erasing their own language due to a pressure to be kind.

They are trying to erase stigma but are replacing it with another.

It's a bit like using euphemisms - some people don't like saying 'so & so' died. They find it almost rude. You're meant to say 'passed away' in some circles. I think this will be the same thing - we will no longer be allowed to say 'women' and 'girls' without it being considered blunt, unkind, and unnecessary in some circles.

No. Another issue they have is they don't actually define their target audience. So everyone and their dog/cat can answer

Oooh really, well maybe this should be reposted as a free for all. Call to arms like?
Plus if many many more women answer than even live in Wales it might make them think harder or improve things for women in Wales when they realise they have more women than they thought.

I started responding to this and it ended up being a bit of a rant lol!

I'm particularly angry that the EasyRead version doesn't mention girls at all and only uses the word woman ONCE - and that's because they are mentioning a Women's Health group...

This is a prime example of how twisted the notion of "inclusive" has become, when an EasyRead document, that is supposed to be written very clearly so that people with learning disabilities rae INCLUDED, is instead difficult for women and girls with learning disabilities to understand, or even to know it's meant to be aimed at them

GRRRRRR!

Thank you will have a look .

Laura Ann Jones the Welsh Tory MS has spoken out: mobile.twitter.com/LauraJ4SWEast/status/1478512139967021063

Anyone can respond to the consultation 334bu. You don't have to live in Wales.

Is this just for women who live in Wales?

This has Stonewall written all over it. Don't mention women/girls/mothers etc. Of course Nancy Kelly as we know would dispute that was ever their aim.

Bumping. Cos the Scottish and Welsh women are dealing with same bonkerniss

[Bows]

I may have been a little annoyed!

Thanks for the mention OP. We are responding to this consultation with a heavy heart. There's so much that's helpful and reasonable in the draft strategy but Welsh Government's determination to prioritise gender over sex is profoundly depressing. If ever there was an occasion when women and girls should be centred, alongside the need for single-sex services and facilities this is it. And yet it's been hijacked.

We hope to get some pointers up on the Merched Cymru Facebook page by Monday at the latest for anyone who would like to respond to the consultation.
Or you could just cut and paste Hoarding's glorious reply!

Yep. I live in the borderlands and occasionally bump into evidence of just how captured the WG is. Being able to compare Welsh and English examples of 'stuff' side by side is something of a treat!

Not so easy when the covid regs differ though.