Advocacy groups call for more action on access to period products

Some Newfoundland and Labrador advocacy groups are calling on the provincial government to guarantee better access to period products, which they say are an essential part of health care.

Leisha Toory is the founder of the Period Priority Project, a grassroots initiative that advocates for "menstrual equity": equal access to period products, and education on sexual and reproductive health.

After the COVID-19 pandemic began, she said, she noticed the strain costly period products put on her own wallet.

"It was very difficult for me to try to accommodate menstrual products in my shopping list. And that should not be the case," said Toory.

"It's a normal biological function and it's not something that anyone should have to struggle with."

Toory emailed Health Minister Tom Osborne on July 17, advocating for menstrual products to be covered under the provincial medical care plan.

"Access to period products should not be a luxury. It is a basic necessity and it ensures that everyone who menstruates is bleeding with dignity," she said. "It is the government's job to take that into consideration."

Toory published Osborne's response, received three weeks later, on social media.

"MCP covers the costs of insured physician services, as per the Medical Care and Hospital Insurance Act," it read. "That being said, our government continues to work with our community stakeholders to identify and address needs such as this."

The response also listed government measures, like the provision of free period products in schools for grades 4 to 12, in effect as of January 2022, and funding of almost $2.5 million to different organizations to give out free menstrual products.

For Toory, the response was unsatisfactory.

"When people in power who have all the resources available and all the means right at their arm's length, and they actively decide not to make a difference and not change lives, then that is the reason why the problem has been prevalent in the community in the first place," she said.

Despite the fact that Osborne responded to Toory's email, his department declined an interview request from CBC News, referring it to the Office of Women and Gender Equality, which, in a statement, repeated most of the original response to Toory.

Toory also criticized the fact that period products aren't available for free at postgraduate institutions. Non-profit organizations also rely on community fundraising, not government funding, to provide them free of charge.

It's something Lisa Faye knows first-hand. Faye is the executive director of the St. John's Status of Women Council and Women's Centre, which is a member of the Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women.

"The [network], all of us agree that $2.5 million isn't enough to make that available," she said.

"Our centres haven't seen an increase in our funding from the government in many, many years but the cost of products, among all the other things we provide to our community, has increased."

While the demand for products has also increased, said Faye, fewer donations are coming in. In Labrador, she added, the situation looks even more dire — period products are more expensive, levels of poverty higher.

"It becomes more and more difficult to ensure that people have access to these products, which are essential to life," she said, adding that the council considers it the government's responsibility.

While free access to products in schools is a positive step, Faye criticized persisting barriers.

"[Students] often have to ask someone to access a period product. With the stigma that's associated with periods, with the amount of time you might have to run to the washroom during a class, that can be really hard," she said.

"They have to be able to just go to the washroom and access what they need."

MCP coverage, said Faye, is only one of many options to ensure access to period products, as solutions need to be found to include diverse groups, like new Canadians, who often don't have access to the plan.

"There's not one way to do this," said Faye. "We're certainly happy to have that conversation with government … to be able to find creative ways to meet the need in our community."

That's Toory's focus, as well.

For her, the community response to her letter solidified her belief that more needs to be done for menstrual equity in the province.

"It was nice to see that community solidarity," said Toory.

"It also made me realize how important this is now to kind of make it a reality. So it really did highlight that for me."

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