Guide leader fights period poverty

Monday 07 December 2020

A local Guide leader wants to see stations offering free period products set up in public spaces including Parish Halls, libraries and the bus station.

11th St Clements Guide leader Jasmine Eisha Beaumont, who recently started a petition calling for menstrual items to be made free in Jersey, said the idea to start campaigning to end period poverty first came to her when she was doing a project with her Guides writing letters on causes they were passionate about.

When the girls turned the question on Jasmine and asked her what cause she would write a letter for, the idea to campaign for free period products formed.

“It linked in with the Queen of Guide awards that I’m working towards where you have to do a community action project which is partly research based and partly practical based,” Jasmine explained to Express.

“I’m working with the Red Box Project to supply each guide unit with a red box of sanitary products, so whilst on camp or at meetings they can have access without having to come forward and ask a leader specifically.”

Pictured: Jasmine said she was inspired to start the petition when her Guides asked her what cause she would want to campaign for.

Having seen the historic vote in Scotland, that saw the country become the first in the world to make period products free for all, Jasmine decided to set up a petition to bring the same measures to Jersey, starting the petition last Wednesday.

Within days it had already reached 1000 signatures, and will receive a Ministerial response. On the way the petition had picked up momentum, Jasmine said how “it just kind of hit the roof! I hoped for it but I didn’t expect it,” and that she had been receiving a huge amount of messages of support.

One of those supporters was Steffy Bechelet, who is a local co-ordinator the Red Box Project in Jersey. The Red Box Project campaigns for period products to be made accessible to young people by providing free ‘red boxes’ of products across schools and the community.

Emphasising the importance of the issue, Steffy pointed out that “the fact we’ve been in 28 schools and have been for over year, and we’ve been helping various other community projects and helping other people out with accessing period products, speaks volumes about the level of need on the island.”

Back in February, Assistant Education Minister Deputy Jeremy Maçon the issue was "something which we are going to raise with head teachers and students, in order to know what the best way forward is" after questions in the States Assembly. Steffy said she has heard nothing about this from the Assistant Minister since – Express has contacted the Government for comment.

Pictured: Red Box Project has helped 28 schools in supplying period products to students.

“Pretty much every women or girl we come across has a story of being either embarrassed, ashamed of being caught short of not having enough supplies of leaking, bedding ruined, clothes ruined” Steffy continued, adding that “it shouldn’t be something that holds any shame, people shouldn’t be worried when we say the word period – it’s just a word.”

Praising Jasmine’s “fantastic” petition and encouraging people to get the number to 5,000, Steffy also wanted to highlight that there are even more people out there who feel the same way: “People can only sign this petition if they’ve got digital access and also the fact that anyone under the age of 18 also can’t put their voice to this, so many women and girls who are impacted by this, their voices are being lost.”

Jasmine has already taken this into account, widening her horizons beyond just those who can sign the petition and opening the conversation to all ages.

“I’m going to work with the Guides, because you have to be 16 to sign the petition, and the guides are 10 to 15,” she explained. “A lot of my guides have expressed a lot of interest in supporting the cause, so we’re going to write letters to the Senators.”

As well as this additional campaigning, if the petition reaches 5,000 signatures, a debate about making period products free for all will have to be had in the States Assembly.

On her ideal outcome continuing on from her work, Jasmine said: “It would be people who need the access being able to have the access – there are people can afford to go out every month and buy these products, but there are people who can’t.

“So I’d love to see stations set up in Parish Halls, the bus stations, libraries – where people can just go and access these products if they need them and not need to feel embarrassed or ashamed to go through their period and not have the products that they need.”