Tampon tax
[2] Since about 2004, many countries have abolished or reduced sales taxes for tampons and pads, including Kenya, Canada, India, Colombia, Australia, Germany, and Rwanda.
This rate was reduced to 5% specifically for sanitary products in 2000 with lobbying from Member of Parliament Dawn Primarolo saying that this reduction was "about fairness, and doing what we can to lower the cost of a necessity".
[21] The UK Independence Party raised the issue in the 2015 general election with promised to withdraw from the European Union and allow the zero rate.
Prime Minister David Cameron commented, when prompted, that the tampon tax campaign was "long-standing" and a complicated issue within the European Union.
[26] The London march on April 2, 2015, led by Lucy Whitehill, garnered support from 2,500 protesters, many wearing bloodied white pants, chanting outside Downing Street.
[35][36][37] George Osborne mentioned the petition by name in his 2015 Autumn Statement pledge to end the tampon tax at the European Union level.
[39][40] In March 2016, Parliament created legislation to eliminate the tampon VAT, following a budget amendment by opposition Labour MP Paula Sherriff.
[41][39][42] It was expected to go into effect by April 2018 but did not do so; several British women protested for it publicly while displaying blood stains from their periods.
[47] In July 2017, a pilot programme began in Scotland to have free sanitary products available at schools and food banks for women who cannot afford them.
[48] The pilot scheme was launched for six months in Aberdeen, with £42,500 of funding from the devolved Scottish Government in order to address the growing scandal of "period poverty".
Further to this half-year pilot programme, Scotland's opposition Labour Party stated their intention to introduce a bill to make this permanent.
A study by the WHO and UNICEF showed that one out of five women in Scotland have been forced to improvise with items including toilet paper and old clothes because of the high cost of commercial products.
The Scottish government in 2019 began providing free sanitary products for poorer students at schools, with hopes that this would be rolled out across the entire nation.
She stated that "Periods don't stop for pandemics and the work to improve access to essential tampons, pads and reusables has never been more important".
[52][9] The measure requires the provision of free period products in schools, colleges, and universities, as well as football clubs, restaurants, pubs, and public concert halls.
The movement aims to reduce the stigma around menstruation that has prevented legislative action toward achieving menstrual equity and reproductive education.
On a smaller scale, individual cities have also changed their laws in favor of eliminating the tampon tax (e.g. Denver, Colorado).
[70] California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB-1561 due to the potential loss of money in taxing feminine hygiene products.
[72][73] Companies involved in supplying the necessary feminine hygiene products (tampons and pads) for complete menstrual care in the restrooms of schools include WAXIE and Hospeco.
[81] The study utilized data from more than 16,000 purchases in 2004–2006 made in New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, using these latter nearby states as the control group.
[82] On November 5, 2021, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law bill SB 153[83] repealing the tax on feminine hygiene products.
[85] In November 2019, during a “special legislative session” and a Governor's signature, Utah became the thirteenth US state to abolish the tampon tax, effective from January 1, 2020.
[59] Both Representatives Greta Johnson and Brigid Kelly introduced the bills for years and finally became law in November 2019 – that would exempt feminine menstrual products from the state's sales tax.
[91] In 2016, the Kenyan parliament introduced an amendment to the Basic Education Act which guaranteed the provision of free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution who has reached puberty and the provision of a safe and environmentally sound mechanism for disposal of the sanitary towels.
[97] Under Part II of the Canada labour Code, employers are already required to provide toilet paper, soap, warm water, and a way to dry hands.
[102] Supporters of the exemption of said taxes are calling their efforts "menstrual equity", explaining it as a social movement that strives for feminine products like tampons to be considered necessities.
Other democrats including Ydanis Rodriguez and council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito are advocating for state legislature to stop taxing sanitary products.
[57][103] Activists with United for Access organized a petition and march[104] to put pressure on the US Department of Education to eradicate period poverty in the US.
[105] Okamoto is also the author of the book, Period Power: a Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement, which focuses heavily on advocating against the "tampon tax".
[106] When Okamoto was 21 years old, she led her organization to host the first-ever National Period Day on October 19, 2019, which focused on pushing legislators to eliminate the "tampon tax".
