How one teenager’s period poverty campaign has sparked change for schoolgirls across Britain

Sign up for the Independent Women email for the latest news, opinion and features Get the Independent Women email for free Get the Independent Women email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Period poverty is a widespread issue in the UK — with 49 per cent of girls having missed a day of school due to periods and one in 10 women aged 14 to 21 not able to afford period products. Seeing products in schools will encourage children to immediately start conversations about products and around periods.” The activist said she had encountered backlash from trolls since starting her campaign — explaining men sometimes get angry she is talking about periods publicly and insist period poverty is not a real issue. They sometimes also wrongly make the assumption parents can’t afford products because they are spending money on alcohol and cigarettes.” Ms George said she hoped to launch a Europe-wide campaign to make schools across the continent follow suit and offer free sanitary products. Since introducing the red box, one girl said to me: ‘I can be a child again, I can run around at lunchtime without worrying; before, I only had one pad to last all day so was always worried about leaking.’ “Offering free products also normalises the dialogue around periods.