Shamima Afrin :
If a woman is asked whether she feels ‘comfort’ when she is on her periods, the answer will naturally be negative. Furthermore, as menstrual hygiene products come with a total tax inclusion of 130.19%, according to the NBR website, this period tax makes an unfair burden imposed on women irrationally.
Menstrual hygiene products are charged 15% VAT on the customer level like many other unnecessary luxurious goods which is a complete indication of not considering women’s menstrual hygiene an obvious facility and right they should get.
Period poverty refers to the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, and hand washing facilities. More than 500 million women and girls are suffering from period poverty around the world. In our country, only 23 per cent of women use proper menstrual products. The lack of menstrual health management and stigma associated with menstruation both have a negative impact on gender equality and women’s enjoyment of human rights, including the right to health. The stigma associated with periods prevents people from talking about it, which in turn averts dialogues about access to products, the period tax, etc.
In a recent survey in Bangladesh, the poverty rate has increased by 4 per cent. In this devastating situation, women from lower-income families are dealing with struggles in maintaining menstrual hygiene. Also, due to the Covid -19 situation, domestic violence and discrimination against women have increased alarmingly all over the world.
Periods do not stop for pandemics and the good work to improve access to essential menstrual hygiene products has never been more important. Therefore, Scotland has become the first country in the world to make menstrual hygiene products free of cost. UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Kenya, India are some countries to abolish period tax and Kenya was the first country to do that in 2004.
In our country, the NBR has waived the VAT on the import of seven raw materials required for manufacturing sanitary napkins. Despite the removal of VAT from importing raw materials, the total tax incidence makes the price of sanitary napkins high because of additional VAT and sales tax. Moreover, the removal of VAT from importing raw materials will be facing evaluation in the upcoming budget this year and that is creating fear of an increase of period tax which is already high.
Period tax debate became a global movement in the past due to social media posts to end the stigma surrounding menstruation through hashtag campaigns. Countries like Canada, India, UK became successful to end the stigma and make menstrual hygiene products tax-free. But in Bangladesh, most women are unaware of this period tax they had been paying for years. As a result, there is no public consciousness against period tax. Many women organizations demanded removing period tax in the past. Though in recent days when women are facing economic hardship like never before due to the covid-19 situation, there is no concern about ending period tax.
Most of the women and young girls find it hard to manage their periods safely with dignity as they are not being able to use hygienic facilities for socio-economic conditions. Because of the expensiveness of sanitary pads and tampons, many girls take the risk of using them for a long time. Poor management of menstrual hygiene products leads to reproductive and urinary tract infections. All these lead girls from lower incoming families to stop from reaching their full potentials when they miss out on opportunities significant to their growth. Emotional toll along with the scarcity of access to menstrual hygienic products is related to poor mental health outcomes, such as anxiety, distress score, and depression.
According to Humans Rights Watch and UNESCO, access to menstrual sanitary products and menstrual education should be viewed on a human rights issue. Lack of access to menstruation hygiene is a public health crisis in our country but this is not addressed largely because stigma, taboos, and silence surrounding menstruation prevent people from talking about it.
Unexpectedly, period stigma has always refrained policymakers to talk about it in public, creating awareness, and making sanitary napkins and tampons affordable to all. When Bangladesh has come a long way to achieve gender equality, issues like menstrual hygiene shouldn’t be taboo anymore and policymakers should ensure to abolish period tax to make menstrual hygiene products affordable and available. Making women pay tax for being women as the period is a healthy biological process should come to an end.
(Shamima Afrin is an MBBS student at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Dhaka).
