In Brazil, menstrual precariousness rhymes with system D
"When a layer of my son is tearing himself apart, I transform it into a hygienic towel".Like millions of Brazilians, Vanessa Moraes cannot afford to buy intimate hygiene products.
This long -taboo subject was propelled at the heart of the public debate in Brazil after the veto last month of far -right president Jair Bolsonaro to a law which provided their free distribution to the poor populations.
"The hygienic towels are too expensive, so I end up using layers or falls of fabrics," says Vanessa, 39, resident of the complexo do Alemao, one of the biggest favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
With two children aged 11 and 12, this black woman with long brown hair struggles to reach both ends, even by combining her job as a waitress with that of school transport driver.
Its elder, Hugo, is suffering from cerebral paralysis and must wear strata pants.
But as soon as the attachment of a layer breaks, no mess, Vanessa transforms it into a fortune hygienic towel, sometimes padding it with a piece of fabric."You have to manage well," she sighs.
A study published in September by the brand of hygienic products "Sempre Livre" indicates that 28% of Brazilian women with low incomes suffer from "menstrual precariousness", namely difficulties in obtaining towels or stamps during their rules.
According to the Brazilian antenna of Girl Up, NGO founded by the UN in 2010, one in four teenagers in the country must be absent from the school several days a month, not being "able to have its ruleswith dignity ".
- "a package for two" -
Vanessa Moraes sometimes receives hygienic towels from the NGO "One by One", which helps families with disabled children and provides its beneficiaries with wheelchairs or meal baskets.
One of them is Karla Cristina de Almeida, a 15 -year -old black teenager, who lives in Maré, another large favela north of Rio.She must often share the package she receives with her sister.
"Sometimes we have a package for two, or even no package at all.In this case, I don't even go to school, I have already missed lessons because of that, "she admits.
Another beneficiary, Miriam Firmino, 51, has been forced to use fabric ends repeatedly during her period since her adolescence, but today counts on donations to prevent her three daughters with the same problem.
"To be able to buy hygienic towels, they must be on sale.When you can't afford to buy it every month, you do like you can with what you have, "she says.
The precariousness of families has only increased with the coronavirus pandemic.
"Because of the economic crisis, many women have told us that they had started to use fabric, cotton, bread crumbs, paper or others when they had their periods, deplores Teresa Stengel,President of the One by One association.
"We have seen cases of infections.Menstrual precariousness is a public health problem, "she alerts.
A bill provided for the free distribution of intimate hygiene products to more than 5 million women, in particular students from working -class neighborhoods and prisoners.
But President Bolsonaro opposed his veto: according to him, the text did not specify a source of funding and would force him to "withdraw funds from the health or education budget".
This decision triggered shields, with reactions from many celebrities like Preta Gil, daughter of the famous singer Gilberto Gil.
Municipalities have also decided to put in place similar locally measures.
This is the case in Rio, with a distribution program of 8 million hygienic towels per year at more than 100.000 students of municipal schools.
