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Why current menstrual policies do not work

Nature Human Behaviour volume 8, pages 2072–2073 (2024)Cite this article

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A useful way to evaluate any public policy is to use the ‘what’s the problem represented to be’ approach2: what a policy proposes to do reveals what the creators assume is problematic (needs to change). In the case of most menstrual and menopausal policies to date, this appears to be the menstruating body (and ‘women’ by association), rather than universal menstrual ignorance and taboos, associated discriminatory beliefs and practices, and those who profit from these things.

For instance, when we talk about ‘period poverty’ (in the Global North) and ‘menstrual hygiene management’ (in the Global South), the policy solution is typically ‘access to disposable period products’. Subsequently, the problem of period poverty or poor menstrual hygiene management is represented as ‘(unmanaged) periods make girls or women miss school or work’3. This, unfortunately, frames periods and female bodies as the problem rather than the government policies and societal gender inequalities that directly contribute to increasing poverty especially among women and girls4; or the fact that most schools (and workplaces) are not fit for people who menstruate5; or the huge profit margins involved in the sale of expensive disposable period products (and other products subject to ‘pink tax’)3.

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References

  1. King, S. in Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North (eds Standing, K. et al.) 23–37 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2024).

  2. Bacchi, C. L. Analysing Policy: What’s the Problem Represented to Be? (Pearson Education Australia, 2009).

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  6. Tax Policy Associates. How the abolition of the “tampon tax” benefited retailers, not women. taxpolicy.org.uk https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2022/11/10/tampontax/ (10 November 2022).

  7. Jurga, I., Yates, M. & Bagel, S. What Impact Does A VAT/GST Reduction Or Removal Have On The Price Of Menstrual Products? https://periodtax.org/documents/periodtax-research-report_a.pdf (WASH United, 2020).

  8. BSI. BS 30416 - Menstruation, Menstrual Health and Menopause in the Workplace (BSI, 2023).

  9. WHO/UNICEF. Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools 2015–2023: Special Focus on Menstrual Health (WHO & UNICEF, 2024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Women and Children’s Health, King’s College London, London, UK

    Sally King

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  1. Sally King
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Correspondence to Sally King.

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Competing interests

The author is an unpaid advisor to the BSI (British Standard Institute) CH338 ‘menstrual products health and safety’ working group and founder of Menstrual Matters, a non-profit evidence-based website about menstrual health and associated rights issues (www.menstrual-matters.com).

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King, S. Why current menstrual policies do not work. Nat Hum Behav 8, 2072–2073 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01996-4

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