Fighting for a Brazilian Period Poverty Law

Menstruation is a natural and healthy part of a woman’s reproductive health. Access to menstrual products, safe, hygienic spaces in which to use them, and the right to manage menstruation without shame or stigma should be a right for every girl and woman. But the fact is that period poverty affects people who menstruate all over the world. And this is not just a potential health risk — it can also mean girls' education, well-being, and sometimes entire lives are affected.

Because of that, period poverty is now the subject of a new Brazilian law that was approved by the nation’s Federal Senate on September 14. This law would guarantee the right to menstrual hygiene by distributing free pads to low-income public school students, homeless women, women who live in extreme social vulnerability, female adult prisoners, and minors in detention centers, reaching a total of 5.6 million Brazilian women between 12 and 51 years old.

However, the celebration of the approval of the Health Menstruation Protection and Promotion Program did not last long. On October 6, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, vetoed the main sections of the law, which guaranteed the free distribution of pads and prioritized the most vulnerable groups of women, alleging there was a lack of funds for such a program and that it was not a priority for the government.

Bolsonaro’s decision led many Brazilians, including female Congress members, to speak out.

“We had to give these women access to this material, which is not just a hygiene kit; it’s a health kit. Many women get an infection because they are unable to make proper use of tampons,” said Celine Leão, coordinator of the bench.

Activists also started online campaigns, like #LivreParaMenstruar, to distribute free pads for girls in public schools, and organized street protests in many cities, including Paris, where activists tied dozens of pads, with protest phrases written in red, at the Brazilian embassy to call for international attention.

According to a survey conducted by Always Brazil, this year 29% of Brazilian women have already run out of money to buy menstrual hygiene items at least once. Twenty-six percent of Brazilian adolescents between 15 and 17 years old do not have access to suitable period products, and 50% of women have had to replace pads with toilet paper, old clothes, paper towels, and even bread crumbs.

In addition to financial implications, period poverty can affect girls’ education. According to the same study, 28% of women have missed class because they were unable to buy tampons, 48% of whom hid the reason for their absence. The research also estimated that students miss up to 45 days of class per year due to period poverty.

A study coordinated by Brazilian anthropologist Mirian Goldenberg draws the connection between this lack of resources and reasons why women don’t speak out about it. The report states that a lack of access to “pads causes a feeling of insecurity. It’s something they suffer alone, as if it were a failure, a shameful thing.”

The only positive aspect of these events is that an issue that had previously been little debated now has national visibility and is being taken seriously by many politicians. And even though it was vetoed by the president, there is still hope that the law can go into effect; under Brazilian law, presidential vetoes are analyzed by the National Congress and may be rejected if the absolute majority of deputies and senators vote against the veto. The creator of the law, Deputy Marília Arraes, said she was “sure that the House will do justice to the will of the Brazilian people, because it is our obligation, and overturn this veto, which is a real absurdity for women in Brazil.”

Currently, only two countries, Scotland and Kenya, have approved national laws to distribute free pads to marginalized girls and women. Brazil now has the chance to be the third, but for this to really happen, Brazilians need to mobilize to ensure this right and to advance in the fight against period poverty.