We, two NCEA L3 Social Studies students, are petitioning that the New Zealand Government should introduce legislation that makes essential period products freely available to everyone who needs them. The New Zealand Ministry of Education has already taken an important step towards addressing this prominent issue through the 'Ikura Manaakitia te whare tangata Period Products in Schools programme'. However, while this initiative aids menstruating school students, this still excludes many adults experiencing period poverty who are without the same/adequate support. 

An estimated 70,000+ women across the country do not have easy access to menstrual products, and therefore have to: resort to unhygienic lengths (makeshift pads, etc), miss work, choose between purchasing food or period products each month…The list goes on. We are advocating that our country's government should build on this programme, by introducing a nationwide legal right to free period products, similar to Scotland's Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021. Free access could reduce financial hardship, support health and dignity, and ensure that no one has to choose between period products and other necessities such as food.  

Scotland has been the first country in the world to make free access to period products a legal right. It's time for New Zealand to join Scotland on the world stage as the second nation to achieve this, and, therefore, diminish period poverty once and for all.