In the women’s fashion store of Merel Boelie in Dordrecht you can find dresses with panther print, tops with panther print, sweaters with panther print, body warmers with panther print, as well as leggings, house suits, pajamas and kimonos with panther print.
So you would say that it is quite easy to guess in which quarter its clientele is looking for it. But that is not counting on a specific category of customers: the women who often linger in front of the shop window for a few minutes before they step over the threshold and ask for a ‘package’ with a red head. When such a woman enters her shop, Boelie knows what to do. Then she discreetly hands over one of the panther-printed paper carrier bags she’s set out on her counter. Those bags are filled with packs of tampons and sanitary towels. She gives them away for free. “I’m doing it to help those women,” says the 29-year-old fashion entrepreneur. ‘Because it can’t be that you’re actually too poor to have your period.’
Boelie meets a growing need. More and more women and girls in the Netherlands have too little money for menstrual products. The effect of this, research has shown, is that a significant proportion of the female population does not go to work or school for a number of days each month or seeks refuge with less hygienic home, garden and kitchen aids.
Growing flow of initiatives
Three years ago, development organization Plan International calculated that about one in ten Dutch women between the ages of 12 and 25 are struggling with ‘menstrual poverty’. Recent research among female Amsterdammers from all age categories, conducted by research agency Opinium, is more than two and a half times higher. Although the results are difficult to compare, poverty experts also see an increase in the problem.
Typical is the rapidly expanding stream of initiatives in which tampons, sanitary towels and menstrual cups are provided free of charge. For example, the Poverty Fund now supports 1,206 distribution points for menstrual products in community centers, libraries and schools. A year ago, there were 170. This enormous increase is partly explained by the increased focus on menstrual poverty, says Kim Kreté, spokesperson for the Poverty Fund. ‘But also because more and more women are experiencing financial difficulties as a result of inflation. We expect that there will be about two thousand issue points in a year’s time.’
Merel Boelie, who gained national fame through her participation in the reality program Utopia, started handing out tampons and pads in her boutique a year ago. ‘I heard something on TV about menstrual poverty and thought: wow, that this exists in the Netherlands’, she says from behind her counter, while dwarf keesje Fendi and pomchi Pommeline trip around her. ‘I immediately bought 200 euros worth of menstrual products and put it on Facebook that women can contact me. Everything was gone within 48 hours.’
She now receives new requests every day and also sends parcels by post. She now receives tampons and sanitary towels from private donors.
Few other savings options
To some women and young girls who want to pick up a bag in her shop, she emails a secret code word in advance. ‘Then they don’t have to be embarrassed if they’re standing among the other customers. I have noticed that there is a double shame in this problem: shame for periods and shame for poverty. I don’t know which one is bigger.’
Since purchasing power has fallen, even more people have found her way, says Boelie. ‘Some women tell me that they can buy less food when they have their period. And I am also increasingly approached by single fathers with daughters.’
How great the need can be is also apparent from the recent research by Opinium. A quarter of the 870 Amsterdam women who were questioned for this purpose have felt compelled to call in sick due to a lack of menstrual products. More than 65 percent have ever used toilet paper, newsprint or pieces of cloth as an alternative, with all the associated risks of infections.
Yes, says Kim Kreté of the Poverty Fund, she understands that it is probably difficult for most Dutch people to imagine that someone cannot afford menstrual products. After all, a pack of tampons or sanitary pads does not have to cost one and a half euros. But: ‘There are people who have to get by on 50 euros a week. Then you can be faced with the choice: do I buy a loaf of bread or do I buy tampons? That can be complicated, especially in a family with several daughters.’
Many other savings options are often not available for these types of people, says Kreté. In fact, a recently published report by the Poverty Fund shows that more and more minima are also having to skimp on other hygiene products due to inflation. ‘Think of toothbrushes, toothpaste, diapers and detergent. That’s why we also want to provide those kinds of articles at our distribution points.’
Basic facility
In Scotland, a law was passed this summer to end menstrual poverty – a phenomenon common in many parts of Europe. From now on, all public buildings there must be equipped with free tampons and sanitary towels. The Netherlands will not follow that example for the time being. A Chamber motion by Volt to make that happen was rejected in September.
Incomprehensible, they find at the Poverty Fund. “Women can’t help having their periods, but they have to bear the consequences,” says Kreté. ‘Menstrual products should therefore be a basic provision.’
As long as that is not the case, Merel Boelie will continue to fill her bags. She is not distracted by the negative comments she sometimes reads on social media. “There are people who claim I’m just doing this for the publicity,” she says. ‘And some think that women abuse my initiative. Well, then you really have no idea how much poverty there is in the Netherlands.’