In Brazil, one out of four girls is kept out of school due to not having access to or being able to buy menstrual products. About 713,000 girls live without access to a bathroom and over 200,000 teenage girls do not have adequate hygiene facilities at school, as pointed out by a report from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
However, it is clear that these statistics mean nothing for the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro who chose to veto, on Oct. 7, a project to fight off period poverty. The project would have aided by distributing sanitary pads and tampons free of charge to women and girls in economically vulnerable positions, prison inmates, and teenagers in public schools. His actions are proving once again that his government only appeals to its supporters—rich businesspeople and the agribusiness sector.
Around the world, there are around 1.9 billion women aged 15 to 49-years-old who menstruate, adding to that there are also transgender, intersex, and non-binary people who experience a menstrual cycle. Between those, at least half a million lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management, meaning that there is little to no access to clean materials to absorb or collect menstrual blood, a private and safe place to change and dispose of them or access to soap and water for washing the body. Not being able to maintain one’s menstrual hygiene is a violation of human dignity and denying this care is unacceptable.
This decision not only reflects Bolsonaro’s personality but also onto his government. He never planned to include the minorities in his government. Among his several sexist, transphobic, and racist speeches he has said “I have five children. Four are men, and then in a moment of weakness the fifth came out a girl,” when talking about his family; “I wouldn’t rape you because you don’t deserve it,” during an exchange with congresswoman Maria do Rosario of the leftist Workers’ Party; and “I won’t fight against it nor discriminate, but if I see two men kissing each other on the street, I’ll beat them up,” said Mr. Bolsonaro reacting to a photo of an event in support of gay marriage.
Bolsonaro’s administration has installed a repugnant climate of anti-feminism and misogyny—“feminism is political, and it’s sexist,” said one of his supporters. This climate has led to even more worrying statistics, during his first year in office femicide rates increased 7.2% when compared to the previous year, according to the Brazilian Forum of Public Security.
Gender and sexuality-based violence deeply intersect with the war on drugs, and the anti-crime policy package of Bolsonaro’s administration implies measures—such as the facilitated access to arms possession and the inclusion of a provision to diminish or even waive criminal penalties when homicides are committed “under stress”—that can potentially increase the incidence of femicide. This only adds to the reasons why policies that aim at menstrual hygiene and well-being are and will keep being opposed by the Brazilian president. As long as people like Bolsonaro are in power, period poverty cannot be overcome.
