Free Period Products have arrived!
At long last, the College have decided to roll out free period products across all campuses. Free products have now been distributed in one female and one gender neutral toilet in each building; you can find the full list of locations here. The vending machines in these locations will be restocked daily by Noonan’s (the cleaning company that is contracted by College). They will be checking on supply levels during the day to in order to assess whether they need to be restocked during the day as well.
This is an initiative which will help support those who are unable to afford period products, as well as improve the wellbeing of staff and students by alleviating the anxiety and embarrassment that can accompany emergencies where period products are not easily accessible. It will help ensure that individuals who menstruate can carry themselves with a feeling of dignity and respect, without having to resort to using bunched up toilet paper in those emergency situations. Crucially, it will also reduce period-related disruptions and 30-minute trips to a pharmacy during the day, thereby creating a more equal work and study environment to individuals who do and do not menstruate.
How it Happened
This has been the result of some incredible dedication and resilience from Grace Fisher (Working Class Officer) and the Working Class Network, who have been working on this cause for over a year with their Period Poverty campaign.
In the College, free products had already been rolled out in the Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, and in the Department of Infectious Disease. These independent schemes showed promising results, where the response from staff and students has been incredibly positive, and usage has been modest. Centralising this scheme to the whole of College has been shepherded by Stephen Curry (Assistant Provost – EDI), Nicholas Roalfe (Director of Estates) and Richard Martin (Director of Academic Services). Professor Curry sent out a questionnaire to all 26 members of the Athena SWAN committee (a staff-led group which advocates for gender equality in the College) and was met with overwhelming support for the idea. He included the results of this questionnaire in a paper which was submitted to the Operations Committee on November 22 to propose a pilot scheme where the “feasibility and desirability” of free products would be tested. The paper has been passed, and now students and staff can finally reap the benefits of it.
Sustainability
A large quantity of products has initially been ordered from PHS, which are not biodegradable as they do have some bits of plastic in them. However, Grace and Camilla Billari (Ethics and Environmental Officer) are collaborating to suggest an alternative supplier which is more eco-friendly. College have stated that they are more than happy to accommodate these suggestions, as long as the dimensions of the packaging fits in the machines. The used products are also currently being collected from the sanitary bins in all female and gender-neutral toilets and used as biomass to generate electrical power. Products that do not end up in these bins do end up in a landfill, so please make the effort to dispose of them in these containers if you can!
Many thanks to everyone that has been named in this blog post. All this hard work has finally become a reality and is now improving the lives of tens of thousands of people in the Imperial community!