Free Menstrual Products Should Be Available In Schools ASAP Says Toronto Youth Cabinet

Their petition has gotten over 13,000 signatures.
Free Menstrual Products Should Be Available In Schools ASAP Says Toronto Youth Cabinet
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The Toronto Youth Cabinet (TYC) is calling on the provincial government to make menstrual products free in schools as a means of promoting gender equity in Ontario.

Stephen Mensah, TYC education lead and member of the city's official youth advisory body, told Narcity that the call to action is motivated by the fact that these items are "a necessity and not a luxury."

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Mensah, along with the TYC, started the online petition with the goal of reaching 15,000 signatures for the cause. The number currently stands at 13,014 signatures at the time of this article's publication. 

The initiative was addressed to Doug Ford, the Ontario Ministry of Education, Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Associate Minister of Children and Women's Issues Jill Dunlop.

"The simple truth is that, for far too long, we have ignored the issue about menstrual periods and that silence has hurt our young people," Mensah said. "No young person should miss out on their education or feel stigmatized because of something that is a normal part of life for them."

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  • Osobe Waberi
    Osobe Waberi was a Toronto-based Ethiopian-Somali Francophone writer at Narcity Canada. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a specialist degree in journalism and a news media diploma from Centennial College. Before Osobe’s gig as a national trending writer at Narcity, she worked at Toronto Star, The Canadian Press, VICE, and CBC.

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