The U.K.’s tax on period-related products is an example of the cultivation of our society’s patriarchal nature. Menstruating is a natural process that women cannot prevent, and because of this they need access to proper sanitary products. Without them, women are being subjected to many problems, including health related and personal issues.
An article published by BCC states that before 2000, the tax on period-related products was 17.5 percent, which is more than the base tax of a pack of cigarettes, which is only 16.5 percent.
This is a demonstration of how women’s access to products relating to their reproductive systems has been marginalized. How is it that sanitary necessities for menstruation are being taxed higher than a life threatening habit?
It has since dropped from 17.5 percent “to 5 percent after a campaign by Labour MP Dawn Primarolo.” However, the fact that there is any tax at all is an unfair power move used to keep women pinned under the thumb of sexist legislation.
BBC’s article also helps us see that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which is responsible for objectively handling matters related to taxpayers, says that these products are “non-essential, luxury items.” This naïve statement does not take into consider the health issues women are subjected to without them.
The inability to access the proper feminine hygiene products, as well as the substitutes some women are forced to use, leads to infections. Treatment for these infections can be very expensive and without the access to proper healthcare can be left untreated, which can be very dangerous.
For example, a Urinary Tract infection can cause “permanent kidney damage from an acute or chronic kidney infection or sepsis, [which is] a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection” when left untreated. For too many women, these consequences are a reality.
The U.K. is not the only place where these issues have been ignored for too long, as women around the world are suffering as a result. For example, “in Bangladesh, infections caused from filthy, contaminated rags are rampant, [and] menstrual hygiene has been linked to high rates of cervical cancer in India.” According to an article on A Global Village, about 10 percent of adolescent girls in Africa are forced to miss school throughout their menstruation or eventually drop out in response to the absence of proper resources.
We need to start analyzing the ways in which women are being excluded from certain necessities and how that may be a modern day translation of historic sexism. Menstruation is a painful and uncomfortable experience that typically lasts for one week. Because of this, it needs to be properly controlled in order for girls to continue living a normal, healthy, and sanitary life. Women cannot prevent the occurrence of a monthly period; so taxing the proper materials necessary to do this is cruel and unnecessary.
Because this issue is surrounding a woman’s reproductive process, the cycle that puts legislative roadblocks in the way of women rears its ugly head. The thought of women being able to handle their reproductive process on their own has historically made men uncomfortable.
The pattern of this is notable: the idea to defund Planned Parenthood based on crumbling arguments, the bill that almost made it possible for someone’s boss to decide whether they would be able to access birth control through their health insurance package, taxing period-related products allowing for big government to profit off of women’s bodies, all of which were either created by or cater to a majority of men.
We have to wonder, is the concept of “out of sight, out of mind” at play here? If the men creating this legislation experienced menstruation, would these products be taxed? Would they find it appropriate if the government was profiting off of their bodies? And most importantly, would there be such a blatant disregard for necessities?