#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #SPAIN #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Spain, CNT #432 - Menstrual-poverty By Rakel Sáiz Querendez - GRUPO FEMINISMOS REG. NORTH (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 The obstacles and differences that women face in their access to socio-health

services due to gender issues are notable. The lack of a gender perspective in
health care, and the difficulties in accessing basic products for the management
of menstruation, seriously harm women's health, especially women with fewer
economic resources. ---- The fact of being a woman exacerbates the inequities
derived from situations of poverty. The percentages of women with a lack of
health care for economic reasons are higher than those of men for all the
different typologies: medical, dental, mental health and access to medicines. For
example, half of women in poverty have never had a mammogram, not to mention
menstrual poverty. ---- Menstruation is directly related to the sexual and
reproductive health of women and girls. Therefore, not being able to live it with
dignity is a violation of their rights.

What is period poverty?
Menstrual poverty has to do with the lack of access to essential menstrual
hygiene products, as well as hygiene facilities, waste management or a
combination of these; It means not having access to menstrual hygiene products,
but also not having clean water, soap and other essential resources for hygiene
and intimate health, and it affects an estimated 500 million women worldwide. It
also includes the lack of education on sexual and reproductive health.

Menstruation is directly related to the sexual and reproductive health of women
and girls. Therefore, not being able to live it with dignity is a violation of
their rights, contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The issue
of menstruation and its social impact can be analyzed from multiple perspectives
and approaches; his analysis can range from the strictly biological to the
political, but poverty is a political issue; and menstrual poverty is a global
problem, but those who govern and have governed the world are men, so there has
been no room to treat menstrual poverty as a social problem, the maximum exponent
of the prevailing androcentrism at the global level.

There are those who think that only women, girls and adolescents from countries
and territories at war, with political problems or financial limitations are
victims of menstrual poverty, but this is nothing more than a myth. The truth is
that millions of women living in "rich countries" like the United States and the
United Kingdom suffer from period poverty. and the Spanish state is not an exception.

It is estimated that two out of 10 women in the Spanish state suffer from
menstrual poverty, which means having to choose between buying food or feminine
hygiene products. In Spain there are thousands of women who cannot afford
intimate hygiene products and have to resort to socks, towels, pieces of
cardboard, cut-up diapers or toilet paper when they have their period, It also
implies using pads or tampons much longer than recommended , anything that soaks
the blood and prevents people from noticing the situation.

Because menstruation is still a taboo subject and not having hygiene products has
a negative impact on physical and mental health. It causes in those affected low
self-esteem, ignorance of their own body, shame, humiliation, stress, anxiety and
even depression. Also, physical consequences, cause urinary, vaginal, uterus or
tube infections, hormonal problems, difficulty getting pregnant or painful
intercourse among others. In addition to the social consequences, such as gender
inequality, stigmatization or school absenteeism in girls and adolescents.
Menstrual poverty is a lack derived from economic poverty, which has a woman's face.

It is estimated that two out of 10 women in the Spanish state suffer from
menstrual poverty, which means having to choose between buying food or feminine
hygiene products.

The reality of menstruation, a "private matter" of women, which has been made
invisible and stigmatized, a reality that crosses different social factors and
which have not been taken into account, economic, cultural, environmental and
psycho-emotional aspects. The issue that underlies this historic looking the
other way is that the rule only affects women, a true reflection of social
reality and the structural gender inequalities that women experience; consequence
of the patriarchal, capitalist and sexist system in which we live.

We demand the elimination of extra costs for menstrual hygiene products and we
demand the elimination of VAT; it is absurd to pay 10% VAT for sanitary napkins,
while Viagra is only taxed at 4%, and is considered an essential item, a clear
example of the androcentric vision that dominates our society and that does not
take into account the needs more basic than half of the population. We demand the
guarantee of access to the necessary menstrual hygiene products, as well as
access to sexual and reproductive education with a gender perspective for all
women, regardless of their social and economic background.

Essential elements to guarantee the management of menstruation in decent
conditions and that do not pose a risk to the health of thousands of women.
We are committed to eliminating taboos around menstruation and making bleeding
visible as a natural physiological fact, in addition to raising awareness of
diseases related to menstruation and silenced such as endometriosis. We also do
not forget the right of women to request and access care for the interruption of
pregnancy in the services of the health system in order to exercise their right
to legal, safe and free abortion.

It is also added that gender bias crosses and affects health care and is seen,
among others, in gynecological paternalism, in the management of cesarean
deliveries (above the WHO 15% limit) and obstetric violence, in addition of
differences in the delay and waiting for health care and different prescription
and consumption of drugs.

The issue that underlies this historic looking the other way is that the rule
only affects women, a true reflection of social reality and the structural gender
inequalities that women experience.

In relation to issues that only affect us and our bodies, such as menstruation,
pregnancy, lactation and menopause, patriarchy displays stereotyped concepts that
downplay their scope as biological processes, or they amplify their impact by
distorting them and converting them into a justification and legitimation of
multiple discriminations with costs not only economic for us but for what
concerns our health. An entire androcentric imaginary has been built that not
only feeds but also produces job insecurity, salary discrimination, and
sectorialization.

We women demand quality, comprehensive, universal healthcare, with a gender
perspective, that is equipped with all the necessary resources and that is within
the reach of all, healthcare adapted to all needs and accessible to all women,
that guarantees our right to health.

Class belonging permeates our gender condition, aggravating the state of our
health and translating into power imbalances threefold: against other women whose
subsistence does not depend on work and who have better and greater access to
health care; in front of men; and, against the bosses and all state
organizations, which act in collusion ignoring our rights.

Class and gender are articulated in favor of psychological reductionism and
reproductive reductionism that we have not chosen, that is imposed on us, that
mistreats us and that provides great benefits to capital and to those who
accumulate it.

This necessary and urgent fight against the feminization of poverty, the
precariousness of health and the poverty of time that women suffer to the
detriment of our well-being and our lives can only take place through combative
trade union organization, which has to do in the face of gender and class
inequalities, which condemn us to lose our health and our right to a dignified life.

It is a question of universal health, social justice and social responsibility.
 From CNT we claim the right to health for all women. It is a collective work,
which requires ending the model of capitalist, androcentric and patriarchal society.

https://www.cnt.es/noticias/pobreza-menstrual/
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