Only a few universities in Berlin are providing free menstrual articles, but many are planning to. This emerges from a response from the Senate to a question from the Greens parliamentary group. The Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee (KHB) and the Charité are pioneers. At the KHB, pads and tampons are made available in unisex toilets. An extension is being examined.
At the three University Medical Center locations, tampons and sanitary napkins are freely available for women in dispenser boxes in ten different toilet rooms. The estimated annual consumption is 1200 packs of tampons and 1000 packs of pads. Products will also be made available in dentistry in the future.
No free menstrual items are provided at Freie Universität. In May, two dispensers were installed in a pilot project at the Faculty of Economics at the Humboldt University. A pilot project is planned for the winter semester at the Technical University to determine demand. Initially, only tampons should be offered.
“The visibility of and free access to menstrual articles at universities helps to break the taboo on the subject,” explained Bahar Haghanipour (Greens), Vice-President of the House of Representatives and spokesperson for women’s policy and equality, to the Tagesspiegel.
It is positive that the majority of state universities provide free menstrual products or are planning pilot projects. Others would have to follow suit, the costs are manageable at 3000 euros a year. No menstruating student should worry about a lack of period products to get through the day, Haghanipour points out.
