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Being unable to afford the basic necessity of sanitary protection is a reality for many women and girls in the UK. There's also a compounding stigma around menstruation. Journalist Juliette Astrup investigates.
Face a day at school with only a sock to protect you from leaking, or stay at home and miss school?
This is the grim choice facing some girls when they get their period every month, and one of the realities behind a recent survey which reveals 1 in 10 14 to 21-year-olds have been unable to afford sanitary wear (Plan International UK, 2017a).
The survey of 1000 women and girls, published by charity Plan International UK in October, also shows that 15% have struggled to afford towels and tampons, one in seven have had to ask their friends to help due to affordability issues, while 12% said they have had to improvise sanitary protection for the same reason (Plan International UK, 2017a).
Kerry Smith, head of girls rights and youth at the charity, says that while data on period poverty is scarce, they know a 'significant minority' are facing the issue, and all the social and health concerns that go with it.
'We have teachers telling us that they supply sanitary products to 10 or 15 girls on a regular basis,' she says. 'We know school nurses are having to distribute them, and from our work around the UK we know some girls are using one tampon or one pad all day, or using tissues or socks in their underwear to stop the blood.'
The issue was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when Freedom4Girls, a charity set up to provide sanitary products to Kenya, decided to operate in Yorkshire after it was approached by a Leeds secondary, where teachers had noticed girls were skipping school each month while on their period.
The resulting media reports shocked A-level student Amika George, 18, so much that she launched #freeperiods, a campaign calling for sanitary supplies to be given to all schoolgirls on free school meals. Her petition now has more than 80,000 signatures.
Amika says: 'Girls have told me that they don't even ask their parents for money for menstrual products, because they know there isn't food for dinner, so they...