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Assembly calls on government to make sanitary products affordable, accessible to all women, girls   |16 September 2021

Assembly members this week gave their full support to a motion calling on the government tostart looking into making hygiene and sanitary products used monthly by women and girls more affordable and that it commits itself to ensuring that women and girls who cannot afford to buy these products can obtain them free of charge.

MNA for Glacis, Regina Esparon, tabled the motion.

In her presentation, Hon. Esparon said with the difficult economic situation prevailing in the country, many families where there are several teenage girls, the mothers are finding it difficult to find the money to buy enough of these products for their daughters as well as themselves.

She affirmed that in Seychelles today there are girls who are not going to school during their period as they do not have enough sanitary towels to use during those four to five days that they go through their period.

This, she said, is something which is not acceptable in this day and age.

She noted that good quality, absorbent and comfortable sanitary towels do not come cheap.

Hon. Alcindor said a study conducted by Ladies’ Circle Seychelles found that 56% of women and girls spend around R200 per month while 12.3% spend R350 per month. (Ladies’ Circle Seychelles is a social networking organisation for young women aged between 18 and 45, founded in 1932. Seychelles joined this organisation of women and became associated members on August 30, 2019).

Hon. Esparon explained that in a normal flow a sanitary towel can protect a person for up to three hours and if left for more than that it can overflow, it can become uncomfortable and can also cause severe skin inflammation, urine and bladder infections.

“But with the increasing prices of these products many women and girls are finding it difficult to have enough to change appropriately and to last them all throughout their cycle each month,” Hon. Alcindor noted.

She said while preparing the motion she talked to the management of some secondary schools as well as some girls who voiced the sad state of their situation where in some cases they use toilet paper or old rags while others who have shared with others and sometimes the school’s management and teacher helped out.

But she noted that there are teachers who treat these girls badly, accusing them of not taking care of their hygiene.

Hon. Alcindor noted that these products are all imported and even though there are no taxes on these products, by the time they reach the shops’ shelves their prices have tripled. She said the government has to start a discussion with the private sector to explore ways to reduce the prices of these basic products to benefit our women and girls.

Hon. Alcindor noted that this is why she is tabling the motion calling for the products to be freely available to all girls through a school’s service whereby girls who can afford will continue to use their own preferred brands.

Hon. Alcindor noted that there is an international lobbying to reduce the prices of sanitary products and many countries have embraced the call.

All the women MNAs who intervened on the motion had sad stories of women and girls who could not afford the products.

At the end of the debate during which Hon. Alcindor’s motion received the welcoming support not only from her female colleagues but equally from her male colleagues, Hon. Gervais Henrie emphasised on the following recommendations from the National Assembly calling on the government to;

- ensure that these products become more affordable for women and girls and that those who cannot afford these products can obtain them for free;

- ensure that girls in secondary, post-secondary and UniSey get these products for free through a mechanism that government should come up with;

- support the women parliamentary caucus in setting up a project in collaboration with other women NGOs to source out these products, making them readily and freely available for women and girls in need;

- explore ways to subsidise these products which are currently being sold mostly by private businesses, pharmacies and importers on which the government has no control but one has to note that government is already subsidising free methadone for drug addicts, housing for returning graduate among others. 

Hon. Alcindor noted in her summing up that the women’s parliamentary caucus together with the Ladies' Circle will, following the motion, seek to engage with the government to explore better ways to tackle the situation.

 

Marie-Anne Lepathy

 

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