Campaigners stress that no one should face barriers simply because of their period.<\/p>\n
Ruby\u00a0Raut,\u00a0founder and CEO of WUKA,\u00a0a reusable period underwear company, said:\u00a0\u201cI lived through period poverty myself over 20 years ago in Nepal, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0unacceptable that in 2026, this is still a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cAccess to period care is not a luxury;\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a fundamental right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n
Period poverty is not just being unable to afford period products,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also about lacking access to\u00a0clean\u00a0water,\u00a0bathrooms,\u00a0and private spaces.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 400 million children worldwide lack decent toilets at school, according to data from the WHO and UNICEF, and 220 million have no toilet at all. In humanitarian crises<\/a>, women and girls who are displaced often face overcrowded conditions without basic hygiene facilities.<\/p>\n Despite this, all around the world, communities are\u00a0coming up with\u00a0their own solutions\u00a0to combat period poverty,\u00a0as well as\u00a0the\u00a0deep-seated\u00a0structural inequalities that\u00a0perpetuate it.\u00a0<\/p>\n ActionAid\u2019s\u00a0local partners\u00a0are setting up \u201cgirls\u2019 rooms\u201d in schools providing period supplies and running education programmes to tackle stigma and improve knowledge of menstrual health.<\/p>\n In Rwanda,\u00a0the charity runs a summer camp for girls where they\u00a0learn about their menstruation and health and how to make their own reusable period products.<\/p>\n Daniella,\u00a0one of the more than 100 girls who attended the most recent camp in Nyanza, Rwanda,\u00a0said the training would help girls like her who have experienced period poverty.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Another student, Yvette, learning to make reusable pads offered a practical solution:\u00a0\u201cWhen girls have the power to choose things that\u00a0benefit\u00a0them, society functions better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n ActionAid and period pants\u00a0company\u00a0WUKA<\/a> have announced a partnership to raise awareness and push for change, with the goal that no one is held back because of their period.<\/p>\n Taahra Ghazi, co-CEO\u00a0at ActionAid UK, said:\u00a0\u201cEveryone should have access to period products and hygienic spaces so they can manage their periods safely and with dignity,\u00a0but\u00a0millions of women and girls around the world, including here in the UK,\u00a0experience the injustice of period poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n Raut of WUKA added:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0seen firsthand how deeply period poverty affects lives, and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0why this partnership matters to me.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0proud to be standing alongside ActionAid to demand period justice for all and to help bring about a world where menstruation is treated with dignity, and where sexual and reproductive rights are respected.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To help support the fight against period poverty, find out how to\u00a0donate to ActionAid here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Change a vendor\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 and always take the magazine. It\u2019s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.<\/p>\n You can also support online: Subscribe to the magazine<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0support our work<\/a>\u00a0with a monthly gift. Your support helps vendors earn, learn and thrive while strengthening our frontline services.<\/p>\n Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a third of those who couldn\u2019t afford products said they wore pads or tampons for longer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1635,6314,18,6315,1073,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-13638","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-cost-of-living-crisis","9":"tag-hygiene-poverty","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-period-poverty","12":"tag-poverty","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116401585684476920","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776060517_614_35-birthday-subs_FINAL_v3_800x250.jpg\")
<\/p>\n