Don. The study, led by Donovan, found that students from New Zealand’s M અનેori and Pacific Islander immigrant communities, who are statistically likely to be affected by poverty, are also unable to afford period products. The study showed that fifteen percent of M માori students and 14 percent of Pacific students dropped out of school because they did not have menstrual items.
Miranda Hitchings, co-founder of Dignity NZ, a for-profit organization that provides free sanitary wares to schools, youth and community organizations, said sanitary products can cost New Zealand ,000 15,000 or as much as, 10,800 per person.
“It’s a significant expense that could be part of a student loan or home deposit,” he said. “But because of the racial cyclical nature of poverty, it’s another thing that puts women or people with periods on the back foot.”
Before local news reports in 2016 shed light on the extent of period poverty in New Zealand, there was relatively little public awareness of the problem, Mr Hutchings said.
“We went to the schools and talked and found out that it was not only real, but it was incredibly prevalent.” “We also found that locals, such as nurses and teachers in schools, were buying products for their students out of their own pockets.”
He said there has also been a sharp increase in periodic poverty since the coronavirus epidemic began.
The campaign for free period products gained steam in late 2019, when Mr. Hitchens, his co-founder, Jacinta Gulasekharam, and other campaigners filed a 3,000-signed petition in the country’s parliament demanding free period products for all students.
