Linda Allbutt, a 74-year-old campaigner and founder of the volunteer-led charity Period Power, is calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to bring Scotland's free period product legislation to England. She expressed her frustration over the ongoing period poverty crisis that affects thousands of women and girls daily.
"I'm bloody angry," Allbutt said, reflecting on the crisis. "It [period poverty] shouldn't exist. We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we have people dying from poverty, people who are dying on the streets in the winter time, people who can't afford the basics of life."
One in ten women affected by period poverty
According to ActionAid, one in ten women and those who menstruate struggled to afford period products either for themselves or a dependant in the last year. Allbutt highlighted the daily struggles many face: "Girls are bleeding through their clothes or not going out because they've got nothing to wear - no period protection."
Allbutt founded Period Power nine years ago to support women across Staffordshire and beyond. Since then, the charity has supported approximately 250,000 women with £535,000 worth of period products, in addition to hundreds of schools. "I'm kind of proud of [our help], but also I'm embarrassed to admit those figures," she said. "I am embarrassed that I live in a country that's allowing it to happen, and that they need us to step up to fill the gaps the government should always fill."
Scotland's free period product model
Scotland's MSPs unanimously approved the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill in November 2020, placing a legal duty on local authorities to provide free menstrual items to those in need. Allbutt pointed to this as a model for England: "You've only got to go as far as Scotland, where they've got free period products everywhere. There's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't do what they've done in Scotland."
She added: "You know when you talk about budgets and [it's] God knows how many billions for this or that. I'm not sure how much it would cost [to rollout free period products], but it would be like a drop in the ocean."
Gender inequality in healthcare
Allbutt also addressed broader gender inequalities in healthcare, saying: "If men had periods, and therefore men had menopause, or if men had endometriosis, all of those problems would have been resolved years ago. Periods would have had some sort of resolution as far as pain is concerned."
She reflected on her own generation: "I'm sure my generation, very few people my age will have been diagnosed with endometriosis because it wasn't a thing. Nobody knew about it then. It was just, you put up with these periods and you just have a hot water bottle and you go and have a hot bath, you'd take painkillers, you'd cry. But nobody's prepared to look further than that. If it had been a man's problem, it would have been resolved."
Call for action across England
Looking to the future, Allbutt asked: "Can we supply free period products in every single council office and every single local business?" She proposed: "Every town would have an allocation sent by the government, or the council would, and they would be put into as many businesses as possible throughout the area."
Issuing a direct message to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Allbutt said: "Andy, look north of the border. If it's possible in Scotland, it's possible in England. That's all he needs to know about period and equity."
