Kaitao Intermediate receptionist Kelsey Papuni. Photo / Stephen Parker
Kaitao Intermediate receptionist Kelsey Papuni. Photo / Stephen Parker
Rotorua schools are backing a national campaign to end period poverty saying the cost of periods is a barrier that needs to be overcome.
The New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) and Dignity NZ have launched Positive Periods, a campaign being pledged to the Government to end period poverty- when girls and woman cannot afford sanitary items.
A 2018 KidsCan survey showed 27 per cent of teenagers had missed school or work because of their period or a lack of sanitary items.
Intermediate and high schools spoken to by the Rotorua Daily Post said this was a noticeable issue with at least some of their students.
Although they provided the products for the students, they said the funding would offer security, take away embarrassment and would ensure students could focus on school.
This would cost about $17,794 for tampons or $31,402 for pads in Rotorua in a year assuming students had 12 periods a year and used 15 pads or tampons per cycle.
Menstrual cups were calculated by Positive Periods at one per student which would cost $40 each.
Kaitao Intermediate principal Phil Palfrey said the school tried to take away any barriers preventing pupils attending.
"At the very least we want to take all those obstacles away and come to school and be in a safe and caring place.
Kaitao Intermediate receptionist Kelsey Papuni said this funding was needed in the community and there were girls who frequently came to her for sanitary items, and often times it was the same girls.
Although she was unsure of the reasons, she said these items were expensive.
It is estimated 52,336 female students in Rotorua are menstruating out of 225,159 in the region.
Sanitary items were bought in bulk out of the school's sick bay budget and given to girls who asked for them but was done discreetly because the topic was seen as embarrassing.
Papuni said from what she knew, a menstrual cycle kept girls away from school either when it was their first time or if they suffered painful symptoms. She had not heard if it was specifically related to cost.
Health Reporoa manager Kerry Wilton-Hill said the voluntary committee approached Reporoa College in April after hearing there was a period poverty issue in Northland and have supplied pads and tampons since.
She said they supplied a range of items to the college every month and although she did not have any figures, said the funding would "absolutely" be put to good use.
Reporoa College deputy principal Jane Goff said period poverty affected students in her school and was something that affected attendance.
Rotorua Lakes High School nurse Rachelle Smith said there was embarrassment around asking for sanitary items.
She said there was a real need for them to be available despite the fact that cost was not something mentioned when students came to her for the products.
The Good Fund is an initiative co-founded by Hamilton woman Emily Holdaway which aimed to provide menstrual products to women who could not afford it.
Fill-a-Bag was a national fundraiser where people donated clothes which would be sold.
Rotorua raised $2317 this year in the fight against period poverty.
Dignity NZ's Jacinta Gulasekharam said it was our duty to ensure no student missed school from a lack of access to period products.
