Students at National Sun Yat-sen University (中山大學) in Kaohsiung have come together to offer free menstrual pads in bathrooms throughout the university.
Three groups have come together to do this: the university’s Student Association, the FreeTakao student group (放狗社), and Friendly Gender Society (性別友善社).
The university will now provide these sanitary items for free in bathrooms in all departments, activity centers, sports venues, and administrative buildings. This will not only lighten the financial burden on women that cannot afford menstrual pads, but also provide them for people that were not expecting to start their period at that time. These products will also be provided in the gender neutral bathrooms around campus.
This is a great step for the university to help provide equality and a meaningful service that will go a long way in providing more gender equality at the school. It will also reduce not only the financial burden on those that need these pads, but also create a more welcoming environment. It could also prevent incidents where individuals fell they need to leave class or work to go purchase these products in the event of an unexpected period. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for bathrooms around Taiwan and the globe.