Western Australians are opting to menstruate into their clothes as it’s cheaper than buying sanitary products
West Australians are opting to bleed into their clothes rather than buy period products because washing clothes is cheaper, in a sign of how cost of living pressures continue to bite.
Despite the much-heralded introduction of free period products to WA high schools two years ago, 65 per cent of West Australians who menstruate say they have found it difficult to buy period products.
It is slightly higher than the 64 per cent national average, according to a 2024 survey of more than 150,000 people by Australian charity Share the Dignity.
Free period products were extended to TAFE campus’ last year and are being rolled out to WA primary schools from this term.
Share the Dignity founder Rochelle Courtenay said it “breaks my heart” to see such continued high rates of period poverty.
“No one should have to go without these basic essentials, yet this issue is alarmingly prevalent,” she said.
“I have heard so many stories shared through the survey about people’s experiences with period poverty, with some people having used tea towels, or tote bags to try and manage their period with dignity, which is simply unacceptable in a country like Australia.
“I had hoped to see a significant drop in the effects of period poverty when compared to our last survey in 2021, but it is just as high.”
Camera Iconstrip, hygienic, female Credit: Satyress/Pixabay (user Satyress)
Stories shared in the survey included one from a WA respondent who was living out of home as a university student.
“I’d often have to choose between purchasing period products or other essential items,” she said. “And this meant I just let myself bleed in my clothes because it was more affordable to wash my clothes.”
Last month a 31-year-old Geraldton woman was charged with stealing $10 worth of sanitary products.
Between 2021 and 2024 the number of university of TAFE students who opted to improvise their own period products, because of the cost, rose from 19 per cent to 25 per cent nationally.
The survey, released Thursday, is the biggest of its kind in the world.
Share the Dignity has also launched its dignity drive, which encourages people to donate period products at Woolworths supermarkets, which are passed on to those in need.
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