A study conducted by Dr. Donovan found that students from the Maori immigrant communities in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, who are statistically more likely to be affected by poverty, were also more likely to be unable to buy period products. Fifteen percent of Maori students and 14 percent of Pacific students missed school because they had no menstrual items, the study showed.
Sanitary products can cost up to $ 15,000 New Zealand, or $ 10,800, over a person’s lifetime, said Miranda Hitchings, co-founder of Dignity NZ, a for-profit organization that provides free sanitary items to schools, youth and community organizations .
“This is a significant cost that could be part of a student loan or home deposit,” she said. “But, because of the gender-cyclical nature of poverty, it’s another thing that puts women, or people with menstruation, at a disadvantage.”
Before local news in 2016 illuminated the extent of poverty in the New Zealand period, there was relatively little public awareness of the problem, said Hitchings.
“We went and talked to schools and found that it was not only real, but it was incredibly prevalent,” she said. “We also found that local people individually, such as nurses and teachers in schools, were buying products for their students out of their own pocket.”
There has also been a marked increase in poverty in the period since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she said.
A campaign for free products gained momentum in late 2019, when Ms. Hitchings, her co-founder, Jacinta Gulasekharam, and other activists sent a petition with 3,000 signatures to the country’s parliament asking for free products for all students.