Welcome to the Cambridge Priod Project Blog! This is where we will share news of what we have been working on, including upcoming events and projects!
Last week (18/02) the Cambridge Period Project submitted our open letter to Professor Toope, calling for free provision of menstrual products in all college and university public bathrooms. This comes after a year of campaigning for the centrally-run initiative hinging on improving hygiene infrastructure within the university. The open letter gathered 1460 signatures from students, alumni, JCRs and members of staff and university societies, an incredible show of support for the Period Project’s values and demands.
Last year’s proposal was rejected by the College Levies Panel and Bursars’ Committee on the grounds that colleges were already providing menstrual products and that a centralised infrastructure would disrupt this. However, the Project wholeheartedly disagrees with this – we believe that the exclusion of menstrual products is discriminatory and unjustifiable. Therefore, we sent out a survey to college JCRs to find out about current provisions being made to combat period product insecurity among the student population. Despite 22 colleges claiming to provide free menstrual products, the survey revealed that over 65% of students cannot access them. Furthermore, JCR testimonies revealed that the onus frequently fell on the Women’s Officers to buy and distribute products – something that opens up more possibilities of disparity between colleges and between years as well as being an unfair responsibility for students. When asked whether a SU organised and funded initiative to provide menstrual products would help JCRs distribute products to their students, 92% answered ‘Yes’. The consensus, therefore, is clear: the current local plans are failing students and there is a demand for the Period Project’s initiative.
There is clear precedent for schemes such as ours. Noted in the Open Letter was the fact that, due to a centralised SU provision, all colleges are able to provide free sexual health products to students – a successful initiative that has eliminated inter-collegiate variation.
The General Board’s Education Committee recommended that menstrual products be provided in all faculty buildings but we believe that if period product insecurity is to be fully addressed, it needs to be extended to include provision in colleges. The Project is also currently working on holding faculties accountable for this recommendation, as not all faculties are currently providing products!
The open letter was a year in the making and we are so proud of, and grateful for, the response it has garnered – proving that there is widespread support for our initiative! Period product insecurity is a problem which affects an expansive proportion of the student population and, thankfully, finally something that is beginning to get the recognition it deserves as a significant economic barrier for people who menstruate. The open letter is only a part of what the Project is doing to achieve a centrally funded system and tackle period product insecurity – watch this space to find out more about the other aspects of the campaign we are currently working on