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Original poster

Girls missing school because of poverty

36 replies

user1496170327 · 02/06/2017 19:45

Hi All,

I'm a 17yr old girl who started a thread yesterday to raise awareness of girls in UK missing school because they can't afford sanitary products.

Over a 8.3k of you have signed the petition: https:/www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-free-sanitary-products-for-girls-on-free-school-meals-freeperiods

Thank you so very much!

The thread has been moved so I'm cheekily putting this here to get more traffic as suggested by some of you this afternoon! The more signatures we get, the greater the chance of the next government having to respond and these girls being helped.

Girls are using socks, toilet roll and newspaper and from the stories you have shared, many of you know how this feels and the long term impacts are physically and psychologically damaging.

May I ask you to please add your name to my petition to the government, and if you could share on social media, that would be amazing!

One last thing- I've been contacted by a German newspaper who's seen this thread. They're now writing an article about poverty affecting girls in the U.K. They are looking to hear some first hand accounts and if you're happy to share your experiences with the journalist, please let me know and I can put you in touch with her. My email is: [email protected]

Thanks you so much!

OP posts:
SalliHubert · 02/06/2017 19:53

Lots of girls are affected by this issue, especially in certain regions of the UK.Girls shouldn't have to miss out on the education they're entitled to get. This is 2017!

Signed.

JumpInTheRiverWithMe · 02/06/2017 19:55

Well done OP.

I know how this feels. I used to steal toilet paper to get through most months until I was lent pads by a neighbour. And I leaked everywhere too. Stressful and upsetting.

FoxyYew · 02/06/2017 19:59

I've signed and shared.

pads are cheapish from supermarkets though aren't they? I say that in good faith, not to be critical.

prettyasaporkpie · 02/06/2017 20:03

Yes....pads can be cheap but even a pound for pads can be too expensive for those who are struggling to make ends meet, especially if you have a period lasting two weeks like me, and tax credits which are late.

I've signed this.

PendantsA · 02/06/2017 20:30

I'm sorry to say this but is some of this not due to parental neglect? Not all parents, but some?

MrsPeelyWaly · 02/06/2017 20:36

I'm happy to volunteer with a local chapter of this organisation

www.daysforgirls.org

Anyone can start a group and decide where the packs would be donated.

CheeseQueen · 02/06/2017 20:40

I'm sorry to say this but is some of this not due to parental neglect? Not all parents, but some?

What if the parents literally have a few pounds left for the week? It's another expense. Luckily for me, I always had access to them. Now I have two boys so don't have to worry there.
If I had me, and two girls to buy for and only pennies left, I can see why it'd be a struggle.
They're only cheap if you're near a shop that does them cheaply. Not everyone is within walking distance of a Superdrug or wherever.

CheeseQueen · 02/06/2017 20:42

pads are cheapish from supermarkets though aren't they?
They're approximately £2 -£3 in an average local supermarket.
They're only cheap if you're presuming that everyone is within easy distance of the cheap shops.

s00thsayer · 02/06/2017 20:46

Agreed, and there are people who have to pay a fiver to get to their nearest shops.
And it's cheap if you have the money, not so cheap when you don't.

DianneDrayton · 02/06/2017 20:49

I'm sorry to say this but is some of this not due to parental neglect? Not all parents, but some?

I agree that there are some parents who possibly neglect their children but the vast majority don't. They are trying their very best for their children, trying to make ends meet and sometimes the choice is between eating bread or not eating anything at all. When you're faced with a choice like that, where on earth do sanpro feature?

MimsyFluff · 02/06/2017 21:16

Maybe supermarkets could also have a basket for this like with pet banks and food banks?

MeredithQuestions · 02/06/2017 22:13

Mimsy some supermarket have baskets which they take to foodbanks. I always leave sanitary products there when I can.

Signed and shared.

Hands0ff · 02/06/2017 22:18

I've signed this and posted on Facebook.

This has to stop.

Original poster
user1496170327 · 03/06/2017 09:46

Thank you all for signing and sharing!

I'm really trying to get enough signs to make it up to 10k, another 1.5k to go! Once we get 10k, the government has to respond on this!!

I'm so grateful for all your messages and shares!

If you can help with getting more signs by signing and sharing on Social Media, that would be incredible!!!

Thank you!

OP posts:
BoyFromTheBigBadCity · 03/06/2017 10:22

Well done OP. To the PP who asked, just shove some pads or tampons in the food bank basket (I also put in things like tooth paste).

JacquesHammer · 03/06/2017 10:40

I'm sorry to say this but is some of this not due to parental neglect? Not all parents, but some?

I don't know that it matters if it is? Surely the end result is the same - girls not having access to sanitary protection.

Witchend · 03/06/2017 11:01

I was talking to someone who runs a kind of food bank and she said that in supermarket collection places they always get loads of sanitary products. They do use them so they're very pleased to get them, but they are much shorter on things like toothpaste-or men's razors, possibly because some tend to do the shopping.

I have signed the petition, but I'm not totally convinced that it will work. What about holidays? Also from what I remember at school I think a fair proportion of girls wouldn't go to collect them from someone at school-sanitary products are quite bulky and I think they would feel it was too obvious. I remember one girl in the 6th form saying that when younger she wouldn't buy from the machines on the wall for fear of someone seeing her, and would use toilet paper instead, and a couple of others agreeing. It's got to be done in a way that the girls don't feel embarrassed as if they're walking back with a sign of "she's on her period" when they've collected them.
Choice of picking up the products or a voucher accepted by pharmacist/supermarket perhaps? Not sure.

User12345678912345 · 03/06/2017 11:07

Don't know if this helps but 25p per ten pack from Tesco.

ImNotTheOnlyOneHere · 03/06/2017 11:08

What if the girls on the scheme were sent vouchers every month for sanitary products? As some have said here it would mean that we avoid the case of money being given that might be used for other things.

I think the current situation we are finding ourselves in is disgusting to say the least. This is definitely something that could work as long as it was implemented appropriately.

I've signed and shared. Well done OP

ImNotTheOnlyOneHere · 03/06/2017 11:12

User12345678912345 I've also seen pads that are cheap but when you read this thread - and I'll confess to not thinking about this before- you'll read some posters saying how far away their nearest supermarkets are and the cost of getting there is prohibitive. I know someone who gets a period twice a month and bleeds for more time than not. For her the cost builds up slowly and she can barely afford a couple of packets a month. I know she doesn't use branded, just own brands, but has told me that she uses other methods. I haven't really asked what she does. I'm actually pretty taken aback at how many people struggle with the cost every month.

McClough · 03/06/2017 17:28

Signed.

Excellent initiative and I fully support.

And, no, I don't think it matters whether it's parental neglect or not, the fact is that these girls should not be missing school because they are born girls - parental control, or lack of it, like having a period, is a matter they have no control over and they shouldn't be penalised for it.

Hands0ff · 03/06/2017 17:37

I agree - it matters not a jot if it's parental neglect. Girls using socks and rags in 2017 isn't something we can accept even if it's parental neglect.

If a child's been abused we don't say it's the parent's fault so let's not take action. If it is down to parental neglect, then surely that's also a form of neglect?

RainbowsAndUnicorn · 03/06/2017 17:44

It does matter if it's neglect, giving them free things is a sticking plaster and not solving the issue. If parents aren't buying the bare basics, then what else aren't they doing?

If we want to help these girls then surely getting agencies involved that have the power to improve their lives is far better.

There's very few places without a super market close by nowadays and all parents get child benefit (unless parents are higher rate tax payers) so no excuse not to use it for the child and their needs.

o1ive · 03/06/2017 17:59

Rainbows, very unfair to make that comment.

I know a lady who through to disability, is unable to work. She has 3 daughers in their teens.

She has help but since her financial situation is so dire, they often go without meals, and I would go so far as to say they live in abject poverty. It's just that, abject poverty. It's not her fault that her situation is as it is.

She is a brilliant mother. Her daughters are well-adjusted and bright. But she cannot afford to buy sanitary products for her girls and gets them from food banks when she can.

So to say that parents who can't afford to buy essential care are somehow neglectful of their children is grossly unfair.

MeredithQuestions · 03/06/2017 18:05

There's always going to be families living in poverty. You should think of yourself as one of the lucky ones since you don't seem to understand that real, desperate poverty exists.
Not all parents squander child benefit on drink and drugs.