“We have already filled several boxes.”
At the Villebon-sur-Yvette media library (Essonne), the collection of menstrual protection organized by the town hall in several structures is off to a good start.
This collection is organized throughout the month of March, and on the occasion of International Women's Rights Day on March 8.
In a white box placed near the entrance, visitors can donate periodic protection products, which will be redistributed to women experiencing menstrual poverty.
“It’s a question of solidarity.
We see that the people who come to donate feel concerned,” observes Natalia Dos Santos, director of the municipal media library.
All donations will be given to the local Vallées Bièvre-Yvette branch of the French Red Cross which operates in the territory of Villebon-sur-Yvette, Palaiseau, Orsay and Les Ulis
.
The town hall hopes to take advantage of this event to raise awareness of menstrual poverty, that is to say the financial difficulty for some women in obtaining periodic protection.
Villebon-sur-Yvette, March 7, 2024. Donations of periodic protection can be placed in these collection boxes.
LP/Emma Launé-Téreygeol
In France, there are 4 million people affected by the phenomenon, according to a study by Opinion Way and the Règles Élémentaires association, partner of the event.
“The subject remains mostly taboo and little discussed.
This is why we wanted to highlight it.
We hope to strengthen solidarity,” declares Victor Da Silva, the mayor (SE) of Villebon-sur-Yvette.
Menstrual poverty is a subject that is less and less taboo in Essonne.
The city of Évry-Courcouronnes also organizes a collection of periodic protection at the Maison des Services Publics Gisèle Halimi during the month of March.
All colleges in the Ile-de-France department have also had distributors of free periodic protection since the start of the school year in September 2023.
Donations can be dropped off at the Media Library, place du 8 mai 1945, the Town Hall, place Gérard-Nevers, the Saint-Exupéry Sports Center, rue Las Rozas de Madrid and the MJC Boby-Lapointe, 8, rue des Maraîchers in Villebon-sur-Yvette.