Importance of sanitary pad vending machines
On 25th February 2020, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill to provide free sanitary products to women of all ages. With Scotland as the forerunner in the race to eradicate "period poverty", it is high time for other countries to follow suit. Bangladesh tried to step up its game by installing sanitary pad vending machines in some public and private universities, but it is a necessity across all educational institutes and workplaces.
Girls hit puberty at different ages and there is no crystal ball to help foresee their first period. Schools having vending machines will help panic-stricken young girls manoeuvre through their first underworld blood bath. There is enough pressure of studies in college, so tracking one's menstrual cycle and packing a pad is an added hassle. Having pads readily available in college means one less thing to stress about. Furthermore, in a somewhat conservative society like ours, where most people have not yet come to terms with a bleeding vagina, a girl carrying a pad to the washroom may be subjected to taunts.
University students spend a lengthy period (pun intended) of time on campus. A menstruating woman staying 6-8 hours on campus has to change her pad a few times to avoid getting Reproductive Tract Infection (RTI). She may not be carrying multiple, and her friends may not have spare pads either, posing the need for a vending machine.
Fortunately, ACI Group had installed Vending Machines providing Freedom sanitary pads at BDT 10/-, around Dhaka University campus in December 2019. Nowsheen Kamal, a 3rd-year student of IBA, has been a frequent user of the one placed at the TSC washroom at Dhaka University, and she considers it a blessing during emergencies. She opines, "These vending machines are a lot like water filters. Not everyone carries water/pad, but it is a basic need". However, complaints arose over the poor maintenance of these vending machines. Nusha and Holy, students of the Arts Faculty of the same university, tried to get a pad but the machine repeatedly rejected their money.
Earlier in 2019, Bangladesh University of Professionals also installed Sanitary Pad Vending Machines. Zerida Rahman, a fresher of International Relations of the university confides, "I've stopped buying pads from the store, and rely on this instead because it is convenient and the quality is good." However, she wishes that it cost less than BDT 15/- per pad.
Workplaces are no exception, because it is unfeasible to run to the pharmacy amidst a corporate meeting, and there may not be pharmacies nearby. Not everyone has a regular cycle; one may not know when the uterus will wreak havoc and stain the revolving chair. For the garment factories, these vending machines are a must, because over 80% of the workforce is women.
It goes on without saying that efficient vending machines providing pads at cheap or for free will be a game-changer for females stepping out of their homes while on their periods. If there are vending machines to combat junk food cravings, there should be one to combat bloody panties, period.