Did you know: 7 out of 13 universities in the Netherlands are already doing projects with menstrual products, mostly initiated by students. Maastricht and Leiden are likely to join them next year. There are also initiatives at many major universities of applied sciences such as Avans, Fontys and InHolland. In Scotland, menstrual products have now been made free for all, but even there it once started from student initiatives in schools. We sat down with Monica Lennon last week to talk about these bottom-up intiatives, and how important it is for politicians to contribute to them top-down. Want to know more about the different initiatives and how Monica managed to handle this in Scottish Parliament? Stay tuned!

May 15th we had an event where we discussed the following question: Do you think menstrual products should be made available at schools? We joined forces with Periodic.nl to highlight the menstrual product initiatives that have sprung up in councils and schools! The initiators briefly explained their project on this evening. The speakers were:

• Luc Goos, student participation and initiator @ Avans Hogeschool
• Radhieka Bandsihar, student VU and founder of Menstrucation
• Anjali Sarah George, student participation and initiator @ University of Amsterdam
• Constantin Thierfielder, student Heidelberg University Council, founding member of Periodic Deutschland, and initiator!
• Isabella Kik, student at Radboud University and initiator

Focus points:

– Sharing best practices
– State of affairs on menstrual products at schools
– Roadmap to menstrual products at your institution
– Differences between initiatives and reasons
– Drafting manifest of initiatives
– Creating a network of facilitators & initiators 

What is Menstrucation? Menstrucation is a company focused on providing guest lectures on menstruation at middle schools and provides advice on facilities related to improved menstrual wellbeing.