‘The Homeless Period’ is an online campaign for homeless women. ‘There’s never a good time to have your period, but this has to be the worst’. During their period homeless women have limited or no access to sanitary products, items which are classed as a "luxury, non-essential item[s]", and as a result are forced to go without. Taxed at 5%, the initiative pushes for tampons and towels to be made available through homeless shelters, in the same way that condoms are provided by the government.

‘We want the government to give homeless shelters an allowance to buy sanitary care, the same way they do for condoms’.

The tax on sanitary ware was only reduced to 5% in 2001, as a result of years of campaigning for a "zero rate" of tax. Before this, the products were taxed the full 17.5%. This means that for the 3,000 days, on average that a women spends menstruating of her life, the cost of these ‘sexual health’ items combined is sizeably expensive. The more this is spoken about, the more absurd even 5% seems, and what’s more the fact that these items are still classed as “non-essential”, is deeply worrying. Especially when items such as bingo, Jaffa Cakes, houseboat moorings and incontinence products, are exempt from tax.

Organisations such as Women at the Well aim to support homeless women on their periods. women@thewell is a registered charity in England and Wales, they aim to ‘provide a creative and supportive space for vulnerable women based on Gospel values’. They offer a holistic response to the women’s needs and work with the women to make choices to improve the quality of their lives.

Despite the progress made by these charities, homelessness is still a widespread problem in the UK. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published research, which revealed that 1 in 10 people have been homeless at some point in their life are women.

An online Vice article, from January earlier this year interviewed women who had been homeless, regarding this issue. One women described how she didn’t go to a shelter for supplies because she was unaware that they provided these items. She also explained that "It's not always as simple as people think. These places don't always let you in". What’s more there organisations simply can’t have limitless supplies of products, and the question arises of what a woman is to do when they run out. (https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/for-homeless-women-having-a-period-isnt-just-a-hassle-its-a-nightmare-124)

The online petition was started 6 days ago by ‘The Homeless Period’, and can be easily signed by on Change.org. Its goal of 10,000 signatures, is currently at 2263. The campaign is ‘working to create a crowdfund to cover every homeless women in the UK for a year’. They suggest sending a box of sanitary products to the nearest shelter, something that people often don’t think to do when donating, in order to support the cause. And with social media today, sharing the petition is so simple, and can make such a difference. 

http://www.thehomelessperiod.com/ 

Agnes Houghton-Boyle, Townley Grammar School