A sock stuffed with toilet paper or a food napkin, that’s what some women use as makeshift pads when their period arrives because money is so tight.
Then there are the domestic violence situations where sanitary items are withheld as a form of control, to keep women at home.
Both these scenarios are common in the Blue Mountains, said Share the Dignity volunteer Kate Paul, and she’s keen to do something about it.
"I’ve never not had the resources to deal with a period. I can’t imagine how undignified it would feel if I didn’t have access to pads or tampons,” Mrs Paul said.
“We want to give women the resources to deal with it in a dignified way.”
For the month of August Mrs Paul and other Mountains volunteers are collecting sanitary items for women in need through the Share the Dignity charity. Items can be placed in collection boxes throughout the Mountains.
During the charity’s April campaign almost 500 packs of pads and tampons were collected locally and distributed to community organisations, support services and women’s refuges in the Mountains. Share the Dignity is also looking to expand to provide high schools with sanitary items as well. Mrs Paul hopes to receive 1000 donations by August’s end.
Collection points: Meet me at Matts, Blackheath; Coles Katoomba and Winmalee; Terry White Chemmart, Wentworth Falls and Winmalee; Lawson Hair Couture, Lawson; 20 Mile Hollow, Woodford; Australian Hearing Services, and Catholic Care Social Services, Springwood; Springwood High School; PDE Hairdressing and Beauty 30, Winmalee; Guide Hall Yellow Rock, and Ebony and Ivy, Glenbrook.
Share the Dignity was founded by Queenslander Rochelle Courtenay in 2015 after she discovered that thousands of Australian women cannot access sanitary products when they need them. Share the Dignity has grown into a national charity collecting more than 650,000 packets of pads and tampons all over Australia.
For more info visit: www.sharethedignity.com.au.