A colleague came by the shop yesterday and told us about this campaign to provide global access to feminine hygiene products. It is important not just as a health issue, but to help women and girls who are unable to leave the house to attend school or work. The simple fact that someone has underwear (which is a luxury many people do not have) is often something which can prevent sexual assault in some cases.
I was aware of some of this. Some of it, I had no idea:
That is very interesting. It also raises the question of the initially liberating but unsustainable way we dealt with that mess in the West. My mum would never let me flush tampons. She was right.
There were societies, including some Indigenous societies here, where women lived apart then but it wasn't necessarily a stigma.
Sure, but that kind of tribal society is not the norm. It isn't a matter of shame so much as being able to go to work and attend school, and we wouldn't expect any woman here to go without that.
Though I have heard a couple of times recently that what many homeless people here need, but there is limited access to is clean underwear. No one thinks of it as a necessity, but try going without it.
Absolutely. Clean underwear, also clean socks. There are garments often worn without underwear, such as those associated with exercise and sport, but they are usually changed as often as underwear would be. I don't wear underpants under leggings, for example, but wash them every time I wear them. That is very hard for a homeless person to do. And these things are less often donated as they have to be new. Remember that this means bras and undershirts etc as well as underpants. And "longjohns" in a cold climate.
