{"id":17249,"date":"2019-02-11T12:31:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T12:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17249"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:43","slug":"unite-london-eastern-period-dignity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17249","title":{"rendered":"Major strides forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last week (February 8), thanks to Unite campaigning, Rolls-Royce took the unprecedented step of adopting the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s period dignity charter<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now, toilets at Rolls-Royce facilities in 50 countries across the globe will stock their toilets with free sanitary products.<\/p>\n

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This big victory for Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s period dignity campaign has been won alongside a series of smaller but no less important successes. This week, we spoke to Unite women’s and equalities officer for the London & Eastern region Carolyn Simpson, who describes how her region has made major strides forward with the campaign.<\/p>\n

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Carolyn teamed up with Unite branch secretary Ruth Hayes who works at a legal aid centre to help some of society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most vulnerable women.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis legal aid centre specialises in representing women who are escaping prostitution, drug abuse, human trafficking and modern-day slavery \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they often have absolutely nothing but the clothes on their backs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Carolyn explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The region\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Moreland Street office in London now has a box in reception, where people can donate pads, tampons and other sanitary products \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ruth periodically collects the box and distributes the products to these women who most desperately need them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Carolyn reports that thanks to the campaign, every office in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s London & Eastern region has free sanitary protection available in all their women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and disabled toilets. So too, does Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Esher Place, where much of the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s training is hosted, as does Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s The View Hotel in Eastbourne.<\/p>\n

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Carolyn said that she is also circulating a petition to end VAT on sanitary products \u00e2\u20ac\u201c also known as the Tampon Tax \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at every meeting she attends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although Parliament first voted to scrap the Tampon Tax in 2016, two years later, women across the UK are still waiting for action \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the government has said eliminating the 5 per cent VAT on sanitary products, which are currently taxed as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098luxury items\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, is now being stalled at the EU level.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Carolyn told UniteLive that while in many ways the period dignity campaign has been taken up with great enthusiasm \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pushing on an open door,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she says \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there are still challenges.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCentral to the campaign is getting people to talk about menstruation without embarrassment. While much has changed over the years, having those conversations still can be a struggle. For example, we have to understand how we navigate culture sensitivities when some cultures may deem menstruating women to be ‘unclean’.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMen too are still uncomfortable about it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added, recounting how one man who wanted to donate to the legal aid centre box at reception of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Moreland Street offices said he simply couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go to a shop and buy tampons and so donated cash instead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Carolyn asked him why he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go to a shop, she said he responded, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be embarrassed that people might think that they were for me.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is another social barrier that we need to break down \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of men getting embarrassed about periods,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Carolyn said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not embarrassing; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a fact.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Employers too don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always \u00e2\u20ac\u0098get it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 either, Carolyn said as she told of one Unite colleague who successfully got an employer to sign up to Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s period dignity charter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When this colleague went back to the employer to see if they were abiding by the charter, the free sanitary products were nowhere in sight. When asked, the employer said they were kept in a black box in reception because if they were put in toilets \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpeople would take them\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWell, obviously that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point!\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Carolyn said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Carolyn said that the period dignity campaign can and should go beyond the confines of the workplace. She said she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aiming to campaign around sexual health clinics offering free sanitary products in the same way they offer condoms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou can go to local sexual health clinic and you can get condoms but you cannot get sanitary products,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said, pointing out the glaring inequality. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter all sex is optional \u00e2\u20ac\u201c menstruation isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. If the health service can afford to give out Durex, then why not tampons? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just yet another example of keeping women and girls in a subservient place where they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go out.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She believes that trade unions should play a central role in promoting period dignity because it is, above all, a workplace issue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s preventing women from working \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re poor, working on minimum wage and can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford sanitary products, you end up missing work for a week each month and then might get sacked,” she said. “That we live in a world where women can be sacked just for having their periods means trade unions absolutely must make period dignity a priority.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about Unite’s Period Dignity campaign, and how you can get involved here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week (February 8), thanks to Unite campaigning, Rolls-Royce took the unprecedented step of adopting the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s period dignity charter \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now, toilets at Rolls-Royce facilities in 50 countries across the globe will stock their toilets with free sanitary products.   This big victory for Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s period dignity campaign has been won alongside a series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[379,192,1105,1007,209],"wps_subtitle":"Unite's London & Eastern region gets on board with period dignity campaign","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17249"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25555,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17249\/revisions\/25555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}