Submitted by Tara Harpur
Approximately 1/3 of women under the age of 25 have struggled to afford menstrual products (source: Plan Canada, 2016). In rural areas the cost of feminine hygiene products is sometimes double that of the same products in large urban centres (source: Brown, 2017). In remote First Nation communities the obstacle of high cost is often compounded by lack of clean water and food/supply security (source: Vieira, 2019). Hence the term Period Poverty.
Strides are being made World Wide to recognize menstruation as a normal part of life and ensure that it does not place an undue burden on women. Scotland became the first country in the World to make period products universally available (source: Baylon , 2021). Ontario cities: Toronto, Oakville, Burlington and Newmarket recognized May 28th, 2021 as Menstrual Health Day (source: Period Purse, 2021). This was a day of fundraising and education to bring awareness to this issue in Canada.
That being said, there is still more to be done.
Moon Time Sisters is an organization working to address Period Poverty in Canada, specifically in remote northern Communities. Visit https://www.facebook.com/moontimesistersONT or https://truenorthaid.ca/moon-time-sisters/ for more details.
Last year, despite the stress and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, our community came together and gathered 3,325 menstrual products to help those struggling to meet this basic need. Across Ontario the Moon Time Sisters 2020 drive collected 223,892 menstrual products. Many also donated monetary funds, 100% of which go toward purchasing and delivering period products to remote Northern First Nation Communities. We are looking to continue this good effort in the month of October.
As the Bruce Peninsula Chapter we will be placing bins outside Tobermory and Lion’s Head Clinics from October 1-31. Half of the donations will go to remote northern communities, the other half are split between the Tobermory and Lion’s Head Foodbank.
Donation Locations:
–Tobermory Medical Clinic (Tuesday and Friday from 8:30am-4:00pm)
–Lion’s Head Medical Clinic (Thursday and Wednesday from 8:30am-4:00pm)
If you have any questions or want to know how to donate funds directly to Moon Time Sister please contact endppbruce@gmail.com.
