With the cost of living crisis surging, more people are being forced to make choices about what they spend their money on. Some women are being forced to prioritise food over period products, with one food bank in Clondalkin telling RTÉ News that it's become a case of "food first...and then period products".
The 'Fabulous Pharmacist' Laura Dowling joined Jennifer Zamparelli on 2fm to talk about women experiencing poverty and the need for greater supports.
Period poverty is when women and girls can't afford to buy the correct sanitary protection for themselves on a month to month basis, Dowling said. She added that she had received a message from a pharmacy worker on her Instagram saying that period products had been found opened on the shop floor.
"I put that up and said, this is clearly desperation on a woman's part. A woman doesn't steal sanitary towels for the craic", she said.
This, she said, opened the conversation among her followers about the realities of trying to budget for period products, with one woman telling her that she uses tissues instead of pads or tampons, as they are too expensive.
"It makes you just think, there are so many people like this that we don't know about because she said none of her friends know and none of her family knows the situation she's in financially."
She added that this same woman had noticed her period was getting heavier, as she was heading into perimenopause, which made using tissues even more unsustainable for her body.
Jen highlighted how there's an additional layer of stigma around asking for period products anyway, which is only heightened by these financial pressures. Dowling agreed, adding that "there's a little bit of shame around the female body and the way it works anyway, we're slowly coming out of it but I do as much talking about it as I can on my page and my podcast [The Laura Dowling Experience]".
When it comes to reusable products, Dowling added that they are "an expensive outlay at the outset, so while they're great and may save money over time, you can be paying maybe €20 for a pair of period pants. So a woman who can't even afford a packet of sanitary towels isn't going to be able to afford a reusable product.
"So I think we need to get our thinking caps on us on how we can help these women, how they can be more accessible."
As a pharmacist, Dowling has also heard from many shoppers who found the price of period products was getting too expensive. "We could maybe start to consider that in the first instance, but certainly I think we need more talk about it, we need to normalise periods and the female anatomy and everything that goes with it."
To listen to the full interview, click the link above.
