Girl Guides getting ‘period poverty’ badge

Girl Guides will get the chance to earn a “period poverty” badge as part of a new campaign by the Scouting movement to encourage discussions about menstruation.

Girlguiding UK, a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, has introduced a range of new activities aimed at removing taboos around periods, along with helping “girls who struggle to afford products such as pads and tampons”, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The new programme, organised in partnership with charity WaterAid, will see girls “devise a drama to set out how they would deal with situations such as what to do if their period leaks onto their underwear or clothes while they are not at home”, says the newspaper.

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The website of Scottish branch of the Girl Guides explains: “Women and girls living in poverty in Scotland cannot afford tampons or towels and are being forced to resort to using newspapers and socks.

“In fact, a new survey from Plan International UK found one in five girls have changed to a less suitable sanitary product, and one in seven have had to borrow products from a friend due to cost issues.”

Girl Guide units across Britain will now be able to buy badges bearing the slogan “End Period Poverty” and images of tampons, pads and menstrual cups, to sew on uniforms.

The organisation is also calling for a “change in the language used for periods”, arguing that the euphemisms typically employed are “confusing” and “makes [periods] seem like something that should be secret, hidden away and never mentioned”.

Ellie Dibben, a member of Girlguiding’s Youth Advocate Panel, said: “From a young age we are told that periods are meant to be private, a secret to be dealt with quietly, leaving many people ashamed and often uninformed about periods.

“We need to bring periods into the open and give young people the opportunity to learn and ask questions.”