Community News

'NOT HAVING A PAD IS NOT AN OPTION'

AILEEN ZANGOUEI azangouei@yrmg.com

The Bradford Women's+ Group along with Rise Up BWG collected more than 4,800 menstrual products to support the Moon Time Sisters' goal of providing menstrual products to Indigenous communities that face period inequity.

The two groups partnered with local businesses to collect donations of period products for northern, remote Indigenous communities in March.

Moon Time Sisters, a collective of people who want to help women on their period in Indigenous communities across Canada access menstrual products that they otherwise could not af

ford, said the donation from the Bradford Women's+ Group and Rise Up BWG has had a "huge impact."

According to Veronica Brown, lead co-ordinator for the Ontario chapter of Moon Time Sisters — founded in 2017 by a Métis woman named Nicole Racette White — the donations from the a smaller community like Bradford has been a big help. The menstrual products have been sent off to supply one specific community, which will last for a good amount of time.

"I can't say how long because I'm not sure how many people are accessing them, but it's a pretty major impact from a small group of women, which is pretty great," Brown said.

Jennifer Lloyd, cofounder of the Bradford Women's+ Group, said they are always looking for ways to help the community that aligns with their group values.

"We thought for International

Women's Day, this would be a good idea to do. Everybody that's part of our group is very generous, and so is our community ... so we thought to collect for Moon Time Sisters," Lloyd said, adding that it was a way for them to show their solitary with the northern Indigenous communities and people who menstruate.

The process to raise the menstrual products, such as setting up bins at four different locations across town, including at Goodlife Fitness, BWG Leisure Centre, Bradford Wellness Centre, and Times Designs.

"We had the bins available and anyone could drop off whatever they could contribute," Lloyd said.

They counted about 4,829 menstrual items, valued at over $1,000. "That's just the cost here. When you think about the cost increase in some of the northern communities, it could be two to three times more," Lloyd said.

The collecting of menstrual products was just the start, as the campaign

was also about raising awareness that period inequity is relevant in Canada, especially in Indigenous communities.

When Brown was asked what people may not know about period poverty in

Canada, she responded by saying: "That it even exists."

Lloyd said that "sometimes when we think about period poverty, we think it only happens in other countries, when it happens close to home and I don't think a lot of people recognize that."

"It affects certain communities a bit more like the northern communities, especially the way COVID has impact supply chains and financial insecurity amid the pandemic has made it worse," Lloyd said.

"This is an issue in Canada that has never been talked about," Brown said. "The more period inequity groups that are popping up, and different organizations, we are the only ones that really focus on Indigenous communities."

Brown said people often tell her they didn't know this was an issue. "It's not just period products that are astronomically priced, it's everything."

The Moon Time Sisters do a lot of work that doesn't just involve period inequity. They advocate for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and educate people by talking about barriers that specifically northern Indigenous communities face.

However, their drive to supply menstrual products to Indigenous communities "opens the door," Brown said of the conversation that leads to discussion of a lot of other issues faces by Indigenous communities.

Brown said providing menstrual products to help ease period inequity is their main drive since "you can forge your own vegetables, food banks are available, but at the end of the day, if you need a pad you need a pad.

"Not having a pad is not an option," Brown said.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: When the Bradford Women's Group and Rise Up BWG raised menstrual products for the Moon Time Sisters who help Indigenous communities have access to free menstrual products, reporter Aileen Zangouei looked into the importance of the impact the donations had.

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

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