Written question asked by Christian Matheson (Labour) on Thursday, 24 October 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 29 October 2019 (named day). It was answered by Victoria Atkins (Conservative) on Thursday, 31 October 2019 on behalf of the Women and Equalities.

Period Poverty

Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress has been made by the joint taskforce on period poverty on bringing together (a) public, (b) private and (c) third sector organisations to tackle period poverty.

Answer: The Period Poverty Taskforce has made excellent progress in bringing together organisations such as the PSHE Association from the public sector, the phs group from the private sector, Bloody Good Period from the third sector and other experts to tackle period poverty in the UK. The Taskforce and its composite workstreams have met twice and begun to identify: access barriers and the groups that are most affected by them; a programme of work to tackle stigma and shame surrounding menstruation; and research priorities to improve the evidence surrounding period poverty and menstrual stigma in the UK.

Secondary information