The Toilet Paper Prejudice - #BreakTheBias

There are many critical conversations being had about public toilets at the moment. In particular, on how to ensure that all people visiting them feel welcome, seen, and safe. An underlying premise in this discourse is that our public restrooms are 'fine as they are', but need modernising to meet the needs of contemporary society. However, the truth is that public toilets are unfairly sexed in an overlooked but fundamental way, in so much as their design and provisions are essentially “male”. Not only are the ubiquitous long queues outside women’s restrooms indicative of unthoughtful planning, haphazard access to necessary products for health and well-being, such as pads and tampons, reveals a systemic lack of awareness and consideration of the needs of half of the population. 

the truth is that public toilets are unfairly sexed in an overlooked but fundamental way, in so much as their design and provisions are essentially “male”

Freda has been fighting period poverty and working hard to reconceptualize period care as ‘Essential Care’ since its foundation. We have worked with charities like Bloody Good Period and Refugee Connection to provide period care for underserved demographics such as refugees and food bank users and have recently joined forces with the sports clubs to supply sustainable period care in their facilities around the UK. Undeniably, recent years have seen welcome private and governmental initiatives to provide complimentary period care in communal spaces such as schools.

Ensuring that there are toilet paper holders while relegating the essential needs of half of the population to a secondary thought is a silent act of discrimination that must be addressed before we can authentically tackle gender bias in other ways. 

However, while these are essential first steps toward eradicating period poverty, they barely scratch the surface of people’s real needs. There is no reason that millions of people living in a modern and wealthy society, such as ours, should struggle to care for their wellbeing during their periods or should suffer humiliation and discomfort due to lack of provisions. Ensuring that there are toilet paper holders while relegating the essential needs of half of the population to a secondary thought is a silent act of discrimination that must be addressed before we can authentically tackle gender bias in other ways.