Parkdale-High Park MPP tables bill to recognize Menstrual Health Day in Ontario

QUEEN’S PARK — Bhutila Karpoche, MPP for Parkdale-High Park, will be re-tabling her private member’s bill Monday calling for Ontario to declare May 28 Menstrual Health Day in the province.

Menstrual Health Day has been recognized around the world since 2014. The day aims to raise awareness of the challenges people who menstruate face due to a lack of access to period products. It also gives menstruators and non-menstruators in Ontario the opportunity to celebrate the natural process of menstruation and fight menstrual health inequity and stigma.

“Many people who menstruate struggle to afford period products like pads, tampons and cups,” said Karpoche. “This can lead to people managing their menstrual health in unsafe ways, which can cause severe health issues.

“This is a health and social equity issue that has the greatest impact on low income, homeless, Indigenous and young people who menstruate.”

Karpoche’s bill to declare May 28 Menstrual Health Day has the support of organizations like FemCare Universe, The Period Purse, Menstruation Matters, and Bleed the North. These organizations have tirelessly advocated for menstrual equity and the elimination of barriers that prevent equal access to products and basic needs for all Ontarians.