The Girl Guides now have an End Period Poverty badge

The Girl Guides have introduced a new badge to their roster - this time it's an End Period Poverty badge.

Girl Guides in the UK will be able to earn the badge by learning about menstruation and the misconceptions around it.

The aim is to reduce stigma around periods, as well as helping more girls get access to period products.

According to Plan international UK, one in ten girls in the UK are unable to afford sanitary products, and 49 per cent of girls have missed a day of school due to being on their period.

One in five girls have also changed to a less suitable product, or asked to borrow sanitary products from a friend because they can't afford to buy them.

The main aim with the badge is to smash stigma surrounding periods, and to provide support to those who cannot afford sanitary products.

Sophie Wallace, an advocate from Girlguiding, said:

We’ve introduced the period poverty badge now because we feel in a modern society, like ours, periods should not be a source of shame or poverty.

We’re calling for a change in the language around periods that could contribute to stigma. For example, asking people to use the words 'period' or 'menstrual' rather than 'hygiene' or 'sanitary'.

Also, we’re calling for schools to provide free period products to those who need them. 

Girl Guides are taking action to end period poverty with the badge, but they're also aiming to fight back against stigma.

For a big part of the population periods are a regular monthly occurrence, and yet people still experience stigma around periods. It’s wrong that this is still an issue in society.

Even worse, for some people both in the UK and around the world, period products are unaffordable.

Periods are not available on request, they are a monthly reality for so many and that makes access to period products a right, not an optional extra.

We’re asking people to take our pledge to tackle the stigma around periods, and for Girlguiding members to wear their End Period Poverty badges with pride.

They can also choose to donate period products to a local foodbank, or complete an activity on periods and period poverty from resources created for Girlguiding by WaterAid.

Many people on Twitter are impressed by the initiative, and expressed their support for the move.

By combating shame around periods, the Girl Guides are aiming to also promote gender equality - and we think their work is doing just that.

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