Free sanitary pads and tampons at four UvA locations
Four locations at the UvA now offer free menstrual products. The CSR calls it a “step in the right direction” but feels that six dispensers for the entire UvA is still too few and that they should be refilled more often. “Right now the dispensers are empty all the time.”
The desire for free sanitary pads and tampons has been around for some time. It was an explicit wish of the current Central Student Council (CSR). The UvA says it “supports the idea that menstrual products should be a basic amenity” and that “neither financial status nor gender” should be a restriction on access to the products.
The dispensers have been deliberately hung not in the restroom but outside it, the UvA said, so that they are especially visible and accessible.
Noah Pellikaan, president of the CSR, calls the new dispensers “a step in the right direction,” but thinks more should be added. “There are currently only six dispensers for the entire UvA. For an institution with 43,000 students and 10,000 employees, that is not enough,” Pellikaan said.
Pellikaan would like there to be more dispensers in the future and for them to be refilled regularly. “The dispensers are empty all the time now.”
Previously, you could get menstrual products for €0.15 at various UvA locations. According to the UvA, that cost was necessary because otherwise the dispenser could not operate.
