Student washrooms for all genders will offer free menstrual supplies at four Red Deer schools

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Free menstrual products will be available to students of any gender at four Red Deer schools, thanks to a pilot project that will run over the next 15 months.   

In the coming weeks, tampon and pad dispensers will be installed in both the male and female washrooms at Eastview Middle School, Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School and two K-8 schools, Normandeau and G.H. Dawe. 

The program, called Period Promise, is a collaborative effort between Soroptimist International of Central Alberta and the United Way of Central Alberta.

Having menstrual supplies available in the boys' washrooms is an important aspect of the project, according to Sherri Smith, president of Soroptimist International of Central Alberta.

"We need to destigmatize the issue around menstruation," Smith said. "We need to educate boys that this is not a taboo subject to talk about. And we want to also encourage boys to take the products for their girlfriends, for their sisters, for their moms, because period poverty could affect their family as well."

As well, some students who menstruate may identify as male and therefore use the male washrooms, Smith added.

"We have to be aware of the fact that we could have kids that are transitioning," she said. "They need this barrier-free access."

'We just want to take away some of that fear' 

For Kevin Robertson, the principal at Eastview Middle School, the decision to participate in Period Promise was an easy one. 

"We were approached about doing it. We're the biggest middle school in Red Deer. We talked as an admin group and our counselling team felt it was a really good thing to do to support our students," he said. 

"Any time we can offer support and help to our students, we'll do that." 

Robertson isn't afraid of the supplies being wasted or misused. Respect is one of the school's key behavioural  pillars and conversations about respect for people, school spaces and property are always ongoing, he said.

He's more worried about students who may be too afraid or uncomfortable to ask for supplies when they need them, a problem this pilot addresses. 

"We just want to take some of that fear of coming down to the office away."

Free supplies for 15 months 

Menstrual supplies will be available in school bathrooms at the selected schools until June 2022. Staff and students will have opportunities throughout to provide feedback about the program. 

Smith would like to see the provincial government get involved, helping school districts provide menstrual supplies in the same way that schools provide toilet paper.

She pointed out that in British Columbia, all public schools are now required to provide free menstrual products for students. 

"They've already done this pilot project in British Columbia, which led the province to fund all schools. They now all have free access to tampons. So that's what we're working toward," she said. 

"We want that to happen in Alberta and we want to see this movement go across Canada." 

'A necessary conversation' 

The Period Promise project received $20,250 from the Red Deer & District Community Foundation.

According to executive director Erin Peden, the project was a fit for the foundation's gender equality fund because it directly impacts the quality of life of women and girls within central Alberta.  

"Not only does Period Promise address the issue of period poverty, but it also opens a necessary conversation around shame that continues to exist regarding basic physical aspects of being a woman," Peden said in an email.