The fight to end period poverty: NGO praises Scotland’s free menstruation products and says Hong Kong needs to catch up

Zoe Chan set up Happeriod to remove the stigma around periods, and educate and empower women

To save money, many reduce how often pads and tampons are replaced, leading to potential health risks

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Zoe Chan founded NGO Happeriod in Hong Kong in 2014 with the aim to destigmatise menstruation. Photo: Courtesy of Zoe Chan

Published: 3:15pm, 1 Dec 2020Updated: 3:15pm, 1 Dec 2020

Zoe Chan gently places the contents of the box on a table. There are handmade cloth pads, menstrual cups and a selection of tampons, all from Happeriod, the non-governmental organisation she founded in 2014 to destigmatise menstruation. It also hosts menstrual education sessions.

“Our workshops help women and girls take control of their period and take control of their body,” says Chan. “We’re also presenting reusables, not only to empower them with more period product options but to help ease the financial burden.”

Normalising menstrual health and empowering women through education have been major motivations for Chan, who spreads the word through her association with Free Periods Hong Kong, a charitable group that provides support to low-income women by supplying free sustainable menstrual products.

For many, sanitary pads and tampons are out of their financial reach. It’s called period poverty and it runs deeper than just not being able to afford menstrual items or the medication to treat cramps that many women experience before and during their period.

Some of the products at Happeriod, the NGO Zoe Chan founded in 2014. Photo: Kylie Knott

The stigma attached to menstruation stops many women and girls from going to work and school: in India, almost a quarter of girls drop out of school when they start menstruating. In Nepal, women and girls are banished from their homes to huts during their period.