Advertisement
For £35 you can help a vendor keep themselves warm, dry, fed, earning and progressing
BUY A VENDOR SUPPORT KIT
Social Justice

#FreePeriods has launched a legal campaign to stop period poverty in schools

The #FreePeriods founder Amika George wants free menstrual products for all schoolchildren in England

Amika George is no stranger to the fight against period poverty.

Founding the #FreePeriods movement at 17, the 19-year-old activist has now launched a legal campaign calling for Westminster to provide free menstrual products to all schoolchildren in England, following in the footsteps of the Scottish Government’s landmark move last summer.

The campaign launched today with a crowdfunder to raise £10k for legal fees.

Advised by law firm Hausfeld & Co, the battle will continue calls for Westminster to ensure girls in England aren’t missing out on vital education because of no access to period products.

“I am tired of the government’s inaction and so, just over one year on from our Free Periods protest to Parliament, I am proud to launch a legal campaign, calling on the UK government to provide free, universally accessible menstrual products in schools and colleges,” said George.

“With support from others, we are confident that we can bring positive change to our communities by offering young girls access to the menstrual products they need in order to participate in their education, which is their fundamental human right.”

A film from Emmy-award winning Lina Plioplyte, featuring George and ten schoolgirls from a school in London, accompanied the launch.

https://twitter.com/AmikaGeorge/status/1082574426577780736

Advertisement
Advertisement

George’s campaign is the latest in a groundswell of grassroots movements fighting for change as stark figures outline the extent of period poverty in the UK, with Plan International UK revealing 137,7000 girls missed a day of school in 2017 because they couldn’t afford menstrual products.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
Winter fuel benefit cuts will send pensioners to hospital, DWP warned: 'It's a political choice'
a view from above of an older person with white hair eating out of a pot
Winter fuel payment

Winter fuel benefit cuts will send pensioners to hospital, DWP warned: 'It's a political choice'

Ghosts star Charlotte Ritchie: 'It's a tragedy people can't afford their essentials'
Charlotte Ritchie at Trussell food bank
Food banks

Ghosts star Charlotte Ritchie: 'It's a tragedy people can't afford their essentials'

Is the cost of living crisis over and will prices in the UK ever come down?
Cost of living crisis

Is the cost of living crisis over and will prices in the UK ever come down?

'This cannot go on': Hundreds of thousands of people turning to food banks for the first time
food bank
Food banks

'This cannot go on': Hundreds of thousands of people turning to food banks for the first time

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know